Dragonball Retold: Gohan's Redemption
by LegendarySuperHomie
Summary: 7 Years past the battle with Cell Gohan is changed to a life of normality by his own choice. However a fatal incident that takes the life of someone close to him revives the warrior heart within, and to honor his friend's deaths he takes it upon himself to defend those who cannot protect themselves. But entry into highschool, and a bossy girl make it difficult. Title was VigilantZ
1. Chapter 1

_Here's a story I've had bouncing around in my mind for a while now. It'll be a sort of dark Super Hero Highschool story. The pairing is Gohan and Videl. And you'll notice I've SIGNIFICANTLY toned down the powers of the characters in this as I plan to build them up stronger and seeing as Gohan and Cell could destroy Solar Systems I wouldn't really have much to work with so I'm toning them down quite a bit and I'll make them stronger as we go. Alright here we go._

Gohan sat on the side of the street in an alleyway in pure agony. In his arms lay an Auburn-haired girl gasping for air that she so desperately needed as her lungs began to fill up with blood due to the knife wound she suffered. Gohan, almost in tears, desperately tried to comfort her, hoping that she'd make it but as her Ki faded he knew that there was nothing he could do for her. Blood was spilled that night and a life that Gohan would never get back left him.

 **2 Days Ago: Early Morning**

Gohan awoke to his little brother jumping on his stomach screaming for him to wake up. Gohan's vision was blurry as he opened his eyes from yet another nightmare. They'd all never stopped plaguing him since, _the incident._ He frowned at the mere thought and assured his brother he was awake. He heard Goten yell something before jumping out his window and, landing on Nimbus, flying back home to the 439 Mountain Zone. Gohan didn't live at home anymore, as he would be attending his senior year at Orange Star High School out here in Satan City. He had spent days trying to convince his mother that his' moving out was a good idea, but with Bulma's help he succeeded in cracking the tough shell that was his mother. Back before _then_ Gohan never would have been able to convince her he was ready to move out, even if it was for his education. But they had all changed since then...

It had now been 8 years since the horrific accident that rocked the world had taken place. The accident in question being the monster named Cell. Cell had come to destroy the Earth, or rather, was MADE to destroy _him._ Gohan remembered that horrific battle like it was just yesterday.

 ***FLASHBACK***

 **Vegeta flew forth with his son in tow, and as a team they attacked Cell with all that they were worth. The boi-droid simply blocked their attacks as if they were nothing before swaying back, smoothly avoiding a wide right hook from the Saiyan Prince, before countering with a vicious knee to the open gut, cracking multiple ribs in the warrior's body. Seemingly without even trying, he caught the kick aimed at his head by the time-traveler and used the young fighter like a mace and beat Vegeta into the ground with him.**

 **Piccolo and Krillin charged him almost at the same time but both their attacks were caught with each of Cell's hands. Then, using the Z-warriors as leverage, jumped up and drop kicked them both letting them fly into the base of a mountain, causing it to partially crumble on top of them. Yamcha dashed forward but his punch hit only air, an up-kick to his solar plexus cracked most of his ribs and caused him to cough up some blood. Cell lifted a palm to blast the fighter into nothing but just as he fired Tien dived in from the side and tackled his comrade out of the way. The blast continued on and sped towards where the recovering Trunks was crouched, clueless as to the ball of destruction that was fast approaching him.**

 **"CHIAOTZUUUU!" Tien bellowed desperately to his friend who looked back and saw the blast. Cursing, the small man used his psychic ability to contain the blast in a barely visible, transparent field of white energy. With the two first fingers on his left hand to his temple, he screwed his eyes shut and stretched out his right hand and made the motion of grabbing a ball and slowly the blast came to a stop. Only feet away from Trunks who now saw the danger and inched away from it, a dazed expression on his face. With a scream Chiaoutzu was suddenly surrounded by a Dark Blue flames of energy so potent and heavy it distorted the others' vision of him like looking out in a heat wave. The small Emperor cast his right hand upwards, palm open and the blast the size of a basketball suddenly shot up into the sky, once it was out of dangerous range he quickly closed his hand into a fist and the energy became unstable and exploded in the sky, rocking the surrounding area.**

 **The shockwave from the blast pushed down on them like increased Gravity and they actually felt the air around them rise in temperature several degrees. As it slowly wore off and the temperature returned to normal they all heard the chilling laugh of Cell.**

 **"Hahahaha! All that trouble over one measly blast? Chiaoutzu your psychic powers are indeed impressive, however you have only delayed the inevitable little man." The android mocked as he suddenly disappeared, reappearing by Tien's side and kicking him hard in the side. Yamcha threw a punch that struck Cell but did essentially nothing to the unstoppable monster. "Annoying humans." He remarked, disinterested. Yamcha felt the elbow fly back and hit him in the face, breaking his nose and knocking him 5 feet back.**

 **Goku powered up with a shout, "VEGETA!" He called, not even needing to further explain as the Prince knew what to do.**

 **"Yeah I know! Green man! Trunks! Kakabrat! MOVE NOW!" Vegeta bellowed and they all charged Cell at once. Fists and feet clashed. Cell ducked Piccolo's punch and wove past him, shoving the Namekian back away from them. Cell then deflected Trunks' elbow to the side and uppercutted him in the gut before moving around him and kicking Vegeta once in the chest and once in the chin before also moving past him and turning around to face them once more. Trunks and Piccolo moved right back into the fight as Vegeta turned to look at Gohan, "BOY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING! I SAID FIGHT!" He screamed at the 9 year old boy who was frozen with fear at the sheer power advantage Cell had.**

 **Trunks was grabbed by the hair and pulled down into a savage knee to his face before he was kicked in the gut and thrown through a plateau. Piccolo was grabbed by the throat and had a hole blasted through his stomach before being tossed aside like a ragdoll. Vegeta growled and flew right at Cell, punching him as hard as he could but Cell felt no more than a slight sting. The mass-murderer retaliated with a back-hand across the face that spun him before being angrily kneed in his back, cracking his vertebrae. Cell then turned his attention to Gohan.**

 **"Poor, scared child. I'll kill you quickly so as to spare you the pain of watching your friends be slaughtered. Cell began gathering energy in his two first fingernails to use them like a blade and cut the boy's throat. Goku saw this and saw that Gohan was completely frozen in horror of Cell.**

 **"Dammit! GOHAN!" Goku screamed launching at Cell faster than the speed of sound, the shockwave from the sound barrier being broken pushed everybody to the ground as he sped at Cell with his energy concentrated in his fist.**

 **"Die, son of Goku!" Cell proclaimed with a sadistic grin marring his malevolent features, before bringing his hand down to end Gohan's life.**

 **"CEEEEELL!" Earth's savior bellowed in a mixture of rage and desperation.**

 **The following shockwave tore the whole battlefield apart for a half-a-mile radius.**

 ***FLASHBACK***

"Dad!" Gohan yelled, coming out of his haunting memory. Gohan realized he was still at home many years after it all had happened. "Ugh, pull yourself together Gohan" he muttered, repulsed by his own mental instability. A while ago Gohan had read some books and, from a third-person perspective completely objectively, and identified multiple symptoms of a condition called Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. It was exactly what it sounded like and was commonly found among war veterans or those who had survived through horrible ordeals. Gohan recognized that he fit that description but refused to believe he had such a condition. Saiyan's were stronger than that after all. Well...technically he was Half-Saiyan but biologically and physically speaking he was every bit as Saiyan as his father.

Bulma could not find a difference, it appeared that long ago his Saiyan DNA fused with his Human DNA and overpowered it. Bulma theorized that it was Gohan's ascension to a Super Saiyan all those years ago that did it. Her theory was that upon unlocking and activating the most ancient of his alien genes the sheer energy and power of it changed him completely. On top of that he had had the same biology as a Saiyan since birth anyway, so the transformation only finished the job he supposed.

At that Gohan stood and went about his morning routine as if on autopilot until he got to his appearance. He had to look normal and approachable, first impressions were supposedly important after all. He wore a long white-sleeved shirt under a blue T-shirt that had the Capsule Corp Logo on the front. He wore slightly baggy black pants and white runners. He decided he looked normal enough to-crap wait.

Gohan frowned at his reflection and picked up the rectangular band-aid from the bench and stared hard at the straight, up-and-down scar that ran from just inches to the right of his bottom lip cutting straight down the jawline and ending where his neck met the underside of his jaw and it was roughly 3-4 inches long. He had got that particular mark of battle, along with the one on his left shoulder, in the incident. It was a symbol of his failure that day. He placed the band-air over the scar on his jaw. He nodded at himself in the mirror, deeming himself normal enough he left his rather luxurious apartment (courtesy of the ever insistent Bulma) out the window in a burst of harmless Ki that blew his curtains around a bit. He was on the top floor anyway so he didn't have to worry about anyone seeing him.

However he was flying in the opposite direction of the school and school wasn't for another 20 minutes. He carried on out of the city limits, passing a sign that said, 'WELCOME TO SATAN CITY'. Originally the place had been called Orange Star but after the incident Hercule appeared to be the only survivor and was praised for surviving such a detrimental conflict and so his home city, where he was already a very famous and renowned Martial Artist, renamed itself after him. He still lived here apparently. Gohan was indifferent to the fact that most people thought he and his friends had all died in that fight, they were mostly right anyway.

After about 5 minutes of him flying a small village came into view, not more than 20 miles out of town, only 3.5 miles from where he was now. Normally from the ground, due to the curvature of the Earth, you couldn't see something more than 3 miles away but it helped that he had an aerial view. He stopped the flow of his ki and allowed his momentum to carry him forward the rest of the distance and somersaulted a few times before landing directly in the clearing in the center of the village. Chazke village.

"Gohan! There you are!" Lime called out running up to him from her house not far away. "You ready?" She asked him, seeing the backpack on his shoulder. She merely received an affirmative grunt in response from the much taller teen. She scoffed at him, "Talkative as always huh? You need to get out more." She stated matter-of-factly. "Seriously, how about you say something to me for once?" She said encouragingly.

To her surprise Gohan opened his mouth as if to say something and she leaned forward in anticipation when suddenly, "NIIIIIIIIMBUUUUUUUS!" Gohan bellowed, completely destroying her ears in the process. Lime recoiled as if she had been burned purely by his voice clutching at her ears as they rang. Gohan smirked devilishly at her before following his sudden scream with a, "Oops, sorry."

"You did that on _purpose_ Son Gohan!" She accused vehemently, pointing her accusatory finger between his eyes and he merely grinned at her. She sighed in exasperation at her confusing friend before hopping on the floating cloud. "Let's just get to school." She grumbled with a pout that made Gohan chuckle before taking off at the same pace he arrived, knowing Nimbus could keep up with that.

They flew high enough so as not to be seen as they entered the city until they arrived above the school. Gohan grabbed Lime up off the loyal cloud, "Thanks Nimbus, head back home to Goten for me would you?" Gohan asked the small yellow puff. It putted at him which Gohan had learned was an affirmative. The cloud took off and Gohan sat above the clouds holding Lime. "This is going to be a strange sensation for you but I have to move down to the roof of the school faster than anyone would be able to see. Since no-one is looking I only have to go just below the speed of Sound. Normally though I'd have to go much faster than that which I can't do in this form. Actually to move across the horizon faster than you could see I'd have to move almost 20 times faster than sound, man if it were only that easy. But anyway at this range and angle it shouldn't be a prob-"

"ENOUGH WITH THE SCIENCE JUST DO IT!" Lime screeched in his ear causing him to cringe at the damage it did to his sensitive hearing. Without another word Gohan held Lime tight and used a burst of his Ki to shoot down at speeds approaching Mach 1 before using his energy to stop himself only a foot from the roof creating a blast of wind that swept over the top of the school building. Gohan put Lime down and, after beating back the nausea from the sudden speed changes and her displacement from her original position faster than she could properly register (which made her throw up the first dozen times it had happened), she began to walk towards the door to the stairwell.

"I will NEVER get used to that" she muttered before noticing that Gohan wasn't near her. She turned and saw Gohan standing in the exact same place with a troubled expression. "Gohan?" She questioned with confusion evident in her features.

"There's a mugging happening only a block away from here..." Gohan said quietly with a slight bit of guilt on his face. Immediately concern overrode the confusion on her face and she stepped forward. She placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to catch the downcast eyes of the much taller boy.

"You know you could stop it Gohan. You could help that person" She told him, "The crime is supposed to be terrible here, but you could help the city." she pointed out gently, trying to coerce him and make his decision easier for the boy she knew suffered from great guilt for his actions throughout his life.

"No, I don't fight anymore. Never again will I allow my heritage to cause another person harm directly. Besides" he pointed to a device on his left wrist that looked like a watch of some kind but without a strange screen below that of the actual time display. He had made it for himself 3 years back, "I couldn't if I wanted, this thing delivers enough electricity to kill a Human 3 times over through my body to discourage violence." He explained for the umpteenth time.

Lime exhaled in reluctance, "You know Gohan, I think you could do anything you truly put your mind to. The watch isn't what's stopping you. It's you." She commented somewhat disappointed in the answer she got from him. Gohan scoffed as a response to that. What part of "device that zaps him if he tries something violent" did she not understand? He wasn't a Saiyan, okay he was but _technically_ he was only half and Gohan hung to the idea of that Human mother he had to pretend he was just like anybody else. And anybody else couldn't do anything with his inhibitor on.

They walked down the stairs together to get their schedules for school. They arrived at their first class of the day and knocked on the door to the class. An elderly man answered and he looked surprised to see what appeared to be polar opposites standing right in front of him. A very tall, stoic-looking, casual and, possibly empathetic about his situation, teenage boy. And a short, optimistic, rambunctious, expressive, smiling and happy teenage girl. The teacher shook the thought away and greeted them, "Hello there, can I help you?" He asked them politely.

"Hi sir! Me and my friend here are new here!" She explained to the man who's eyes slightly widened, as if in recognition of something.

"Ah yes, the new students!" He exclaimed happily and opened the door, "Step right in and I'll introduce you to the class." He instructed and stepped to the side to allow them entry to the room. Lime took the lead and entered first followed by Gohan. Some people had looked down to see what was happening but most had engaged in furious conversation about the latest gossip the moment the teacher's eyes left them to answer the door. "Class! May I have your attention for a moment?" He called over the sound of the room and, after a few moments, the chatter died down to mere occasional whispers. Nodding in satisfaction at the volume he continued. "Today we have been graced with two new students! Introduce yourselves you two." He told them nodding to the girl, figuring that she would go first, judging by Gohan's seeming unsociable demeanor so far.

"Hi everybody! My name is Lime Lao! I live in Chazke village. My hobbies include reading, jogging and hanging out with friends." She presented to her classmates. "This here" she gestured to the boy behind her, "Is Gohan. He's really grumpy all the time and doesn't talk a lot but he's really a nice guy. He just hasn't had a lot of friends his age before so don't be too hard on him!"

 _"Wow thanks a lot for putting me out there like that Lime! Why don't you just spill my life story while you're at it?"_ Gohan though sarcastically with a passive kind of contempt only possible for a teenager.

"He won't talk much on his own so anybody got any general questions about him?" Lime asked, making up for the fact that Gohan would not say anything on his first day if he didn't have to.

"What kind of girl are you into cutie?" A girl up in the top row asked and Gohan's face tinted red and he turned his head away from her, unable to retain eye contact with the girl after that. Gohan stammered and 'uh'd a lot in response unsure of how to reply to a question like that. Lime snickered at him and Gohan tried to glare at her for it, but the blush still staining his cheeks made it very un-intimidating and she just laughed outright at him. Several other chuckles and giggles moved throughout the class and even the teacher smiled before taking charge.

"Now now, appropriate questions class." He told them hoping to coax an actual question from his class this time.

"What are your interests?" A random guy asked him closer to the front row. Gohan was happy that it was a normal, non-personal question this time. He decided he would take the easy route and began to shrug his shoulders but was stopped in his tracks by Lime whom had her back to Gohan at this point.

"No shrugging or grunting for a response. How about you try using that brain of yours to form a response to the nice boy who asked you a question?" She reprimanded, somehow preempting Gohan's apathy for interaction with new people. With a sigh and a roll of his eyes he decided it was easier to just listen to her.

"I like reading, eating, swimming, flying and stargazing." He said rattling off the last 5 things he had done over the past 2 days without really thinking about it. "And before you ask I lived in the 439 area my whole life until I recently moved to an apartment here in the city where I live alone." Gohan regretted adding those last crucial 4 words as he could immediately sense a change in atmosphere surrounding a few girls in the room who were looking at him very intensely all of a sudden. He groaned internally before trying to see the bright side. To be fair it could be worse, he could have told them it was the most luxurious apartment in one of the best hotels in Satan City and he OWNED it all to himself from now on.

It appeared that Lime had suddenly gained the ability to read his mind because, as innocent as she appeared, Gohan's now very frustrated teenage mind irrationally told him that she was just trying to spite him as she suddenly added, "That's right you live in the top floor of the Orange Star Oasis now don't you? I forgot about that."

Jaws dropped and eyes fixed on him. It made the Saiyan warrior, who had fearlessly faced the greatest threats the universe had experienced, very uncomfortable and he gulped. Suddenly he felt like prey before a multitude of predators against which he had no defense. Thankfully the attention was taken off of him by the teacher deciding that he had better start the class again.

"Alright class time to get back to work, Gohan, Lime, you may sit wherever you like." The teacher told them gesturing for them to go take their seats as he turned back to the board and continued explaining what they would be doing this first quarter. They moved to the only free seats next to a blonde girl wearing a green tube top and tight jeans.

"Hiya there, I'm Erasa!" The now apparently bubbly girl introduced herself to the two. Gohan acknowledged her with no more than a nod and Lime slapped the back of his head from the other side.

"Gohan! Be polite and introduce yourself." She demanded of her friend who looked confused at her and said something along the lines of 'but she already knows my name now' which earned him another smack to the back of his head. "I'm really sorry about my friend Erasa, he doesn't know how to socialize with people and not be a _total dick."_ She said putting extra emphasis on the last two words with an irritated glance at their secret savior.

"Oh it's okay, Sharpie here can be much the same way sometimes." Erasa replied in a good-natured way that made Lime smile. "That's Sharpener there" she said pointing at the other blonde who had long hair and wore a tank top that his rather muscular form bulged out of. "Then here next to me is Videl Satan herself." Erasa said pointing to the black-haired blue eyed girl glaring at Gohan, a fact that Gohan found disconcerting, but that he decided would be best to overlook.

"Satan as in Hercule Satan? Wow, how cool." Lime said, surprised to find his daughter on her first day of school. The group, minus Gohan, engaged in idle chatter and a friendship was formed between Lime and Erasa and eventually Erasa even got Gohan to participate occasionally.

Gohan supposed that she was nice enough. By the end of class and beginning of lunch he found that he quite liked her bubbliness and she kind of reminded him of Lime. Besides, he was happy that Lime was already making friends, though he would never let her know something like that. He couldn't damage his image after all. However he noticed that all day that Videl girl had been glaring at him suspiciously, admittedly it was the lesser of two evils when compared to the unadulterated and shameless lust being directed his way from a few of the girls who just couldn't seem to contain themselves, but it was unnerving.

As the bell rang and they were allowed to leave for lunch the group moved to gather their belongings. Erasa proposed that Gohan and Lime eat lunch with them. "We'd just love to wouldn't we Gohan?" She said with a tone that made sure Gohan knew he didn't actually have the freedom of speech right now.

"Yes thank you Erasa that would be nice." Gohan returned cordially and they followed the three new friends they had made. The trio stopped under a tree in the field outside the building and Gohan and Lime caught up and sat down with them. Gohan pulled the capsule out of his pocket that contained his lunch. He clicked the top and dropped it in front of him. With a poof of smoke there was suddenly a whole feast before them all. The three new friends they had made, for obvious reasons, where awed and confused by the feast.

"Is uh, this _all_ for you Gohan?" Sharpener asked tentatively, not wanting to appear rude or offend the guy. Gohan looked at him confused for a moment before realizing what the problem was.

"Oh that's right, you probably haven't seen a lunch this big before huh? Well know some of it is for Lime and I suppose you guys can have some if you want. But mostly yeah it's mine." Gohan explicated clearly, even trying to further play it cool by offering them some of it and, though Videl did it with a suspicious inspection of the food (as if he would poison his own food), they all seemed to relax and began trying bits and pieces of the banquet and even commenting on how splendid it tasted. They tried to be polite and not stare but Gohan did not miss the glances and looks he got as he ate at his so called "inhuman pace". Gohan never liked when people said that, it reminded him he was a Saiyan, and in turn different, and hence brought memories of all his childhood traumas, guilt and failures.

The shrill ringing of the school bell rang to send them off to class minutes after Gohan had already eaten everything that was in the capsule. "So now our class has gym Gohan, Sharpie's wet dream and Erasa's worst nightmare." Videl stated monotonously with an expressionless face. Sharpener and Erasa began to bicker with her in each of her ears but she simply kept walking with her arms crossed. Gohan watched for a moment and took note of her.

" _She's very quiet, cool, cold even. Calculated and suspicious. Cautious and thoughtful, it just...doesn't suit those eyes of hers which sparkle with something I can't place. They remind me of Goten's eyes...they remind me of_ his _eyes."_ Gohan suddenly shook the thought away and made a point not to look at the troublesome girl. He did NOT want to be thinking about that crap right now.

They arrived at the gymnasium and Sharpener looked back over his shoulder to Gohan who, having been able to hear the brief conversation they had due to his heightened senses, already knew what was going to happen. "Hey Gohan, you follow me, we have to get changed." He called casually and Gohan nodded in acknowledgement.

"And Lime you follow us we'll show you the way to the girls' lockers!" Erasa squealed out, receiving a smile and a nod from the Auburn-haired girl. The groups split up and headed to their individual lockers. Gohan and Sharpener entered the guys' locker room and Sharpener went straight to his locker.

"This one next to mine is empty, it's yours now. You bring any clothes for gym?" He asked to which Gohan's head shook a negative.

"No I didn't even think to." Gohan replied. Sharpener said something about not sweating it since it was his first day as the Blonde teen dug for something in his locker. He fumbled around in the locker for a few moments before he made a sound of accomplishment and retracted his hand holding a ball of clothes.

"Here you go, this is all I have to lend you but you look about my height so it should fit you man." The muscular teen explained, generously lending Gohan some spare clothes which could now be distinguished as a long sleeve shirt and a pair of sweatpants. "You look a bit thinner than I am so they might be a bit baggy, I don't know if you mind that or not."

Gohan merely gave him a small appreciative smile, "Thank you Sharpener these will do just fine." Gohan replied thankfully.

Sharpener smiled whole-heartedly, pleased he could help the new guy on his first day. It made the teen feel wholesome. "Great, you get changed quick though looks like everybody else is already out there." Sharpener told him as he left the room with a light jog. Once he had left Gohan changed, put his stuff in the locker allocated to him and moved out to the gymnasium.

When he arrived outside the changing room he saw that all over the place were students doing different activities and exercises. "Glad you could join us Mr...Son is it?" The coach said questioningly. Gohan nodded and he continued, "Today since it's the first day you're just going to be doing something active, whatever it may be. You look a little thin so feel free to use the weights if you so choose, though no heavy lifting without a spotter to help you, or you can play a sport if that's your thing. Whatever, as long as its active." The gym teacher instructed, "Now off you go."

Gohan gave a final nod and a thank you before looking around, thinking of what to do. He couldn't do weights, he'd immediately stand out and he doubted any amount of weight they had in a high school gym would be enough for him to even notice. He couldn't run laps, he'd pass everyone up easily and he wouldn't be tired. He'd have to do some body-weight stuff and be sure to not do anything too crazy or make it look too easy when people were watching.

With that thought in mind Gohan looked around and didn't see anyone watching him or even paying him any mind. While he was surveying the scene a certain Black-haired girl caught his eye. She was sparring one of the other students in a small makeshift ring. He watched as she dodged her opponent, a tall, broad-shouldered boy, skillfully and without great effort. She looked to everyone else as if she was on the ropes but Gohan's Martial Art's sense that was carved into his brain told him otherwise. She was merely luring him into a false sense of security while looking for an easy opening.

Just as he thought, as she ducked another punch, this time a right hook that was thrown a little too wide for his current stance and it threw him off slightly, she used his unbalance and hook-kicked his only supporting leg in the back of his knee, buckling him. Videl then took that same leg and continued its course, stretching her leg out behind his now buckled supporting leg. She leaned back and gave a hard shove in the center of his chest that pushed him backward. Instinctively he moved to put his other foot back behind him to steady himself but found it was stopped by her outstretched leg and he tripped backwards falling on his back. He moved to get up but a foot was planted on his upper chest pushing him back against the floor.

"I win." She said simply with a smirk before extending a hand to help him up. Gohan personally thought she did quite well for a human without any _real_ Martial Arts training. However now that he was thinking about fighting he thought about his father again which brought a grimace to his face. This girl kept reminding him of his father and he didn't like it. Videl was turning out to be quite troublesome and he wasn't quite sure if he disliked her or was merely indifferent to her. In any case he couldn't be around someone who reminded him of his father so he turned away from her. Got down on his hands and toes and started doing push-ups.

However just as Gohan looked away, Videl looked up and at her surroundings seeing what everyone else was doing. No one else wanted to fight her for today so she decided to see what her friends were doing. That's when she saw Gohan, away from everybody else, even Lime who was currently with Erasa playfully kicking a ball between them. The mysterious flame-haired youth was just off to the side, eyes straight forward at a wall, mouth closed, face expressionless doing pushups in a meticulous fashion. He never took a second longer or a second less to do the next push-up as it did the last. Never speeding up, or slowing down. It was as if he was a robot and merely completing a task.

Though his face was expressionless his eyes betrayed a glimmer of emotion. Hurt. And not the physical kind. Videl approached Gohan from across the gymnasium and slowed her pace when she was within earshot of him. "Hey Gohan, are those Sharpener's clothes you're wearing?"

Inwardly Gohan sighed in frustration and resignation, but he didn't wish to be impolite so he stopped his push-ups and stood up to reply, "Yeah, he said I could borrow them. I didn't bring any spare clothes." He explained to the girl who he really didn't want to have to see right now.

"Oh him? Wow, normally he's a bit of a dick on his first day" Videl half-joked to the tall boy, "He must like you." She said wiggling her eyes suggestively at Gohan.

"Very funny Videl." Gohan replied evenly, without a hint of it affecting Gohan in the least showing in his features. Videl laughed openly at her own joke and Gohan couldn't help but be reminded of Goku. Again, Gohan turned his eyes away from Videl and she saw it but chose to ignore it. She noticed that pained look in his eyes again.

"Hey, Gohan? Are you okay? All day I've been seeing some inner turmoil in you." She stated simply and to the point, not one to dance around the subject. Gohan's eyes widened in surprise and a little bit of fear.

"W-What? What are you talking about?" Gohan asked, his face pulling into a slight frown and his voice turning defensive. Videl shot that down immediately, seeing through it like she had X-ray vision.

"Don't get defensive I'm not trying to be a pest you know. I'm just really good at reading people, I was concerned for you, you know, new guy trying to fit in and all." Of course this wasn't necessarily all true. Videl knew there was something else bothering Gohan but she took note of the way he got defensive and a little panicked when she brought it up. He was startled that she could see through his mask so easily. She knew this because she could tell he had a very good mask and that meant he had something her very desperately wanted to keep to himself. She was normally very, shall we say? 'pushy' with people but just from Gohan's reaction she could tell that the particular thing that was bothering him, could not be forced out. So she figured by being nice and friendly, eventually he would tell her and she could offer her help.

Just as she'd hoped Gohan's face relaxed a bit and he sighed audibly, "Yeah no I apologize, that was rude of me." Gohan said apologetically. Inside however he was frustrated, _"I can't even be mad at her because she's a good person. Ugh, of course the one human I don't want to have to be anywhere near happens to be a model citizen who wants to be friends. Figures."_ The young man thought bitterly.

"No problem, I get that this whole thing is a bit overwhelming and you feel a bit on edge and alone. Just know that we're here for you. You can fit in with us, you seem like a pretty nice person." She complimented with a small smile that made Gohan even more frustrated at her.

"Things aren't always what they seem..." Gohan muttered without really thinking about it and Videl rose an eyebrow at him and crossed her arms.

"Gee, you must be fine at parties -outlook." She remarked sarcastically, "Come on, don't be so hard on yourself. I doubt you can have done anything that would make a young teenage guy think little of his character. Besides, even if you have so what? You're only human." And with that Videl waved a bye at him and began walking away.

Gohan's teeth clenched as she walked over to Sharpener and his fists curled tightly, knuckles turning white, _"That's just the problem, I'm not human."_ He thought angrily before walking quickly for the exit. That... _girl..._ was really getting to him. The coach called out to him asking where he was going and he simply responded with some bullshit about needing some air. Gohan walked outside and saw it was very overcast and it was starting to spit tiny raindrops here and there. He walked out away from the building and out of eyesight or earshot on the field to a tree and punched a hole in the trunk with shout.

His satisfaction was short lived however when the electricity shot through his body, telling him without words that violent actions would not be tolerated. He shook as the volts ran through his body before receding back into the watch. His muscles relaxed and he eventually stopped shaking. He stood there by the hole in the trunk for a few moments before exhaling all his air and taking a deep breath.

"Fucking human girl..." He muttered somewhat angrily.

 _That's it for the first chapter folks. Hope you enjoy it and remember as always, read and review and feel free to query me with any questions y'all got. Till next time._


	2. Chapter 2: Death of Lime

After his ordeal with Videl Gohan decided he couldn't go back while she was there and decided to take some of his pent up aggression to the skies. He would come back for Lime after school. With this in mind he looked around and felt his surroundings with his senses and decided that no one was around and shot into the sky, flying high up into the sky. He let forth a warcry and began putting out crazy amounts of energy to relieve his stress and frustration. His skin tingled and burned as the familiar energy of transforming into a Super Saiyan surged through him like lava in his veins. His muscles seized and his fingers drew blood from his palms. Suddenly his hair flashed a brilliant Gold for a split second before reverting to Black. Golden orbs of energy rose from his hair that waved around like he was underwater. A blinding flame engulfed his form and his pupils disappeared momentarily before returning a teal color and with a final scream he completed his transformation.

He straightened out and raised a palm for him to look at. He knew he was still more powerful than Vegeta since he had only ACTUALLY stopped training the day he put the inhibitor on which was roughly 3 years ago. For the first four years he had continued his training and he was at least twice as strong then he was back with Cell but he had no way of knowing if his max now was better than his max then since he hadn't made the jump to ascend in 6 years. As he thought that he felt the hot itching beneath his skin, begging for him to unleash that power but he resisted the urge. It was too risky for him to make the jump. Especially after last time...

Now that he had released a lot of his energy he decided another prudent step would be to talk to Bulma about getting some kind of implant to stop him if he ever lost control. He nodded to himself in satisfaction at his foresight and shot off to Capsule Corp. West City. He knew that West City was about 3700 miles from here. In his base form he was a little faster than the speed of Sound. But he was about twice as powerful as a Super Saiyan and so he could almost make Mach 3 relative to sea level. **(Mach speed is specific to how fast sound moves in certain air densities and other variables, so from here on Mach 1 will always mean 761mph. Every mach above that multiplies that number by the number following it e.g Mach 2 is Mach 1x2, Mach 3 is triple Mach 1 etc.)**

He could move at almost 2284mph so it would take him almost 2 hours to get there. School would end in 3 hours. Shit, he wouldn't make it back in time. He'd have to send Nimbus with a message for Lime. Gohan reached out with his Ki and made sure that Goten wasn't using the cloud. Sure now that he wasn't going to accidentally pull his brother all the way out here he called the cloud. It arrived in about 6 and half minutes as the cloud maxed out at about Mach 6. It actually amazed Gohan how fast that cloud could go. "Hey Nimbus, in about 3 hours can you go to the roof of my school and wait for Lime for me? Hide from anyone else who comes up there though, got it?" He asked and the cloud putted in response. Gohan took that for an affirmation and pulled out a piece of paper and wrote a message on it _'Lime, I'm sorry I left suddenly but I was...unsettled. I'm at West City at Capsule Corp. Nimbus will give you a ride home okay? See you tomorrow."_ He put the note on the center of the Nimbus cloud and instructed the cloud not to drop it not that he thought it would. Nothing ever seemed to fall off of Nimbus since the puffy cloud sort of lightly held on to you.

He thanked Nimbus and took off for West City determined to see Bulma.

 **Capsule Corp: 2 hours later**

Gohan had arrived at the massive building and was currently making his way through the maze of hallways, knowing where to go not only thanks to his acute 6th sense but due to the fact that he had walked these halls many times throughout his short life and had a sort of mental map of most of the building. He arrived at Bulma's lab and the steel door slid open automatically as he approached it. Bulma was tinkering with some kind of gadget that looked somewhat like a scouter. The bluenette looked up at the hiss of the door opening.

"Gohan? Wait shouldn't you be at school?" She asked with a stern expression, filling in Gohan on the fact that she _knew_ he was supposed to be at school and was giving him a chance to explain himself. Gohan explained the situation with Videl to his godmother who looked like she didn't quite understand him but felt sympathy all the same.

"Anyway, I was wondering if you could create some kind of micro-chip that would stop me if I was ever to lose control like all those years back?" He asked broaching the subject to avoid any questions about his personal matters.

"Eh? Gohan don't be rediculous, WHERE in the world would I place such a chip on you anyway huh?" She asked glaring at the boy, daring him to give her the response she thought he was going to. Her suspicions were confirmed when she saw Gohan's Adams-apple bob as he swallowed hard and his gaze averted from her eyes.

"Er-well...I was thinking it could...you know...work neurologically and be inserted at the base of my sk-" But Gohan never got to finish as Bulma's face tinted red as blood rushed to her cheeks in anger at such a reckless suggestion. He saw it all as if in slow motion. Her fists clenched, her legs straightened and tensed and she leaned in towards Gohan, her lips stretching as she prepared to berate him and he merely flinched his head away.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT GOHAN! I REFUSE to perform such a dangerous surgery on my OWN godson!" She scolded, "And what would your MOTHER say!?" She continued, her volume not sounding as if it would ever return to normal but eventually it did just that. Her cheeks returned to their normal colour and she relaxed with one long exhale. "Besides, doesn't your inhibitor thing _already_ prevent you from doing anything violent? That was the whole point of you making it in the first place." She reasoned with the taller of the two who looked shy.

"Yeah I guess, it's just...I wanted extra measures beyond the inhibitor..." Gohan muttered before they both heard the sliding of the door and turned to look there.

"Ha! As if that puny human contraption could ever truly stop you." A deep gravelly voice remarked in mirth. There at the doorway, leaning on crutches stood the mighty Saiyan Prince himself.

"Vegeta?" Gohan vocalised queryingly, "What are you doing here? Aren't you normally still rehabilitating at this time of the day?" Gohan asked innocently receiving a slight glare from the proud warrior.

"Normally yes but I sensed your energy just after you left your blasted _school_ or whatever. It felt erratic and unchecked so when I saw that you were heading this way I thought to reprimand you for it." Vegeta gave Gohan a once over with his eyes and noted his attire, lingering slightly on the inhibitor. "A true warrior is prepared for battle at all times brat, even in times of peace." He scolded lightly.

Gohan merely sighed in response to that, "I told you Vegeta, I don't fight anymore. It's too dangerous. Until you're rehabilitated no-one alive has the slightest chance of stopping me. That's WHY I stopped training." Gohan reminded the Saiyan prince who grumbled in dissatisfaction. "Besides, you're wrong about what you said. My inhibitor is _designed_ to stop me. I designed it."

"Gah! No contraption of gears and metal can hold back a Saiyan's pride." Vegeta shot back proudly with his chin up.

"Oh really? Too bad _pride_ isn't an actual quantifiable force or I'd look into it." Goku's son replied scornfully, annoying Vegeta, "I work with facts and science Vegeta and no amount of _good intentions_ or _saiyan talent_ can overcome the specially produced _plotdeviceium_ thatabsorbs excess energy and rebounds it into an electrical shock that freezes all neuro signals and stops any form of thought or emotion in it's tracks." Gohan finished with a smirk on his face thinking he had won. It turned to a scowl when Vegeta shook his head sadly.

"If only you could hear yourself. Pathetic really. And I had such high hopes for you." Gohan snarled and a low growl rumbled up his chest and out his throat, "Maybe you truly believe that, maybe you don't. Either way, if you wanted you could overcome that anytime you wanted." Vegeta said and, without any enjoyment, left the lab having said what he wanted to say.

"No I-HEY! VEGETA! COME BACK HERE I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU!" Gohan bellowed at his back as it disappeared down the hallway until eventually he was out of sight and all Gohan could hear was the steady clacking of the prince's crutches on the marble floor of Capsule Corp. Gohan's rage simmered but he was now in a foul mood and, with a quick thanks to Bulma for her time he stormed out the lab and down the halls on his way home.

While flying Gohan vented to the open sky in frustration, "Who does he think he is? Some kind of genius? I'm a scientist I know what I'm talking about, meanwhile he's talking with his ego like it means something to anyone! What part of "Stops me" does he not understand?!" He yelled to no-one in particular, a cone of air surrounding him and exploding like a gunshot as he broke the sound barrier and shot off across the horizon.

Gohan arrived home and landed feet from his front door. However due to the fact that he was kind of angry he wasn't paying attention to his speed upon landing. Gohan's leading foot sunk ankle deep in the Earth and he lost his balance slightly, falling forward onto his hands and knee. Normally he would slow himself down just before he touched down so that he would only actually be fully visible to people once he was still and on the floor. Gohan got angrier yet and yanked his foot out, uprooting a fair chunk concrete leaving a hole in the ground. He stood up straight and looked around to make sure no-one had seen. Satisfied that there was no-one around he grumbled as he walked to the front door of the apartment complex. A happy Orange blur shot out of said door and barrelled straight for Gohan's chest. He wasn't in the mood today however and, without even taking his eyes off of the distant space he was staring into, caught Goten by the face. "Human speeds" he scolded absent-mindedly. The child kicked and squirmed in his grip before Gohan released him and he dropped to the floor on his behind.

Goten blinked for a moment looking stunned before jumping up turning and hurrying over at a normal human pace and tugged on his sleeve, "Gohan, Gohan! Mama told me to come by and tell you to call her since she doesn't have your number yet! Okay? Okay bye Gohan!" And with that the little guy looked around before shooting up, jumping as high as he could and just as he reached the peak of his jump the Nimbus cloud rushed by and caught him. Seeing the cloud reminded him of Lime and he hoped she wasn't too mad at him for making her ride nimbus home alone. Gohan sighed exasperatedly and stepped into the elevator which had a man wearing a Grey hoodie in it. The young Saiyan noticed that he had what looked like a tattoo of a snake that started with the head on the back of his hand and disappeared assumingly up his arm but due to the sleeves he couldn't tell for sure. Gohan looked suspiciously at the man who had his hands in his pockets and was looking at the floor. Gohan knew that there was something off about this guy but firstly, this man was of no threat to him, and second it wasn't his job to stop him, especially since he didn't have any _real_ proof that the guy was up to no good.

Gohan stepped off at the last floor before the top and, giving one more glance at the strange man, said, "This is your stop isn't It? My apartment takes up the whole floor above us so I need you to step off so I can go." Gohan explained patiently. The guy mumbled something to him and stepped off the elevator. Gohan rode the elevator up another floor. The elevator doors opened and before him was a short hallway with only one door at the very end of it. The door was rather large and Gohan walked up and swiped his card in the door and a light on the panel turned Green and with a hiss not unlike that of the doors at Capsule Corp. Gohan stepped into his apartment. It was massive and while Gohan hated to take money from his friends he had to admit he _did_ like the apartment.

Gohan called his mother and talked to her about his first day at school, of course, Gohan left out the part about him losing it around Videl. Knowing Chi-Chi she would immediately jump to conclusions about how he felt about the girl and would be completely off in her estimation but would never accept that she could be wrong and would keep up with calling her his girlfriend for months at least. After he finished calling her he went and showered. As he cleaned his body he couldn't help but think about the weirdo in the elevator. The more Gohan thought about him the more of an uneasy feeling settled in the pit of his gut like a warning. He almost wished he had called someone at least about the guy, something about him seemed very foreboding. Once Gohan stepped out of the shower and dried himself off and threw on sweatpants he walked over to his phone, deciding it would be a good idea to apologize to Lime for just leaving like that.

He dialed her number in and on the third ring she picked up, "Hey Lime, its Gohan." He said, already sounding apologetic, "I was just calling to apologize for taking off like that, I didn't really consider you and it was unfair." Lime sounded as if she were in a huff but with a sigh she forgave him and reasoned that whatever it was to make him take off must have been good enough for her and he _did_ sound legitimately sorry for it. "Great! So do you need me to pick you up again tomorrow or?...no?...Ah I see, well I'll see you in the morning then." And with that he hung up. Apparently she was waking up a bit earlier and driving to Gohan's apartment complex with her new car.

Gohan looked at the time and noted that it was only evening. He did his school work and did about four hundred handstand pushups using only his left arm, before repeating the exercise with his other arm. Then he jumped up and hooked his legs on a metal bar that he had built in that was about 7 feet off the ground. He began doing hanging crunches and situps for about half an hour. As he did this Gohan realized he shouldn't have showered when he got home because now he was just going to have to shower again anyway. Then he dropped down and back flipped, landing on his feet in a crouched position. Then he did 600 chin ups before deciding that was enough. He had another shower and saw that it was now 8pm. He was very bored he realized and so turned the giant TV that was mounted on his wall facing his bed on. He watched various shows in bed for about 2 hours before he started to get tired as a news update ran. They were talking about some criminal loose in Satan City when Gohan nodded off and eventually passed out on the couch. Unfortunate as if he had managed to stay awake and pay attention for another 5 minutes he would have heard the news presenter describe a highly dangerous hooded man with a snake tattoo on his forearm...

 **The Next Morning**

Gohan woke up and went about his usual morning routine. He ate a huge breakfast that was prepared by 2 robots that Bulma had given him when he moved in. As they finished making his breakfast they automatically moved back over to the cupboard where they rolled to their chargers and shut themselves off. He ate, showered and dressed, this time choosing loose-fitting brown cargo pants, black sneakers, a White long-sleeved shirt and on top a black hooded sweater. After getting done doing everything he needed to do he reached out with his energy and sensed Lime at the ground floor. He grabbed a water bottle from his fridge and made his way out his apartment, locking it behind him, and heading for the elevator. He walked through the lobby and out the front doors where he saw Lime.

"Hey Gohan!" She greeted cheerfully, receiving a smile and a nod in return from the quiet boy. "Would you rather we drove in my car or walk?" She questioned knowing what his answer would be. Gohan eyed the capsule in her hand in distaste, he hated being cramped in those things and only used them if he absolutely had to.

"Uh, let's walk." Gohan decided. The two began walking to school together, Lime telling Gohan about anything new while he quietly listened and occasionally made a comment. They got to the school and Gohan had the uneasy feeling they were being watched. However due to the fact that there were plenty of people walking in, out and around the school he couldn't merely reach out with his senses and find them since it could be anyone. Gohan shook off the feeling and they walked through the main gates of the school. They walked to their first class of the day and he sat down next to Erasa in his spot from the previous day.

"So Gohan, where'd you disappear off to yesterday?" The blonde girl asked and he saw Videl glance in his direction. He couldn't let them know anything.

"I just didn't feel all that well and I needed to blow some steam." He explained, proud of himself for not having to lie to someone whom he hoped could be his friend. She merely nodded in understanding before moving on in the conversation, telling him this and that about him and her. Gohan merely listened with one ear and nodded between taking notes to show that he was listening to her. About half an hour later the group was pretty quiet except for the occasional murmur until Erasa perked up suddenly.

"Oh! Gohan! Videl, Sharpener and I are going to hang out this afternoon, I was wondering if you'd like to come with us?" The bubbly teen asked politely and generously and Gohan smiled. He was lucky to have met such a nice girl who was so polite on his first day here. He might finally have that life he had wanted since all those years ago, he could finally have normal friends and live a normal life just as he pleased.

"Of course Erasa that sounds great. I just have to walk Lime home first since she has to help around her grandfather's place today, but afterwards I'll call you and we can hang out till whenever." Gohan explained to her and Videl looked surprised. That's funny, she'd imagined he wouldn't be able to go due to a strict mother or something. I mean, it was only logical that she was strict. For him to have been homeschooled his whole life and still be topping the school academically he must have been worked to the bone. She decided to voice her thoughts.

"Won't your parents mind?" She asked, trying to make sure she didn't come off as rude and trying to get rid of him. For a moment Gohan's face darkened and he looked down at his notes trying to block the thoughts of his father. He scribbled in silence for a few seconds and just when Videl thought he wouldn't answer.

"My mother doesn't care, I don't live with her anymore remember? I live alone in the city." He reiterated for her and she 'oh'ed in remembrance. With that settled they went back to paying attention and over time Gohan's mood lifted once again to normal levels and he was happy to have the opportunity to spend time with people his age other than Lime. The bell for the class ended and the students were making their way out of the room and heading for their next period.

The day passed by slowly and lunch came around. Gohan and Lime were making their way to the staircase so he could eat on the roof but his plans were interrupted when he knocked shoulders with somebody and sent them to the ground. "Sorry." Gohan said on reflex turning and seeing a guy on his ass on the floor. As the guy's friends laughed at him Gohan offered a hand. However the guy's face turned red with humiliation as his friends laughed and he pushed Gohan's hand away, getting up for himself.

"What's your problem asshole!" The guy shouted at him, shoving Gohan in the chest, who allowed himself to be pushed a few steps back. Immediately they stopped laughing at him and ooh'ed in anticipation. Gohan could tell this was turning bad fast and knew it was a bad idea to get into a fight. Gohan gently guided Lime away from them so she was a few feet away.

"I'm really sorry man. I didn't see you and I was in a hurry is all. I don't want any trouble." Gohan explained politely, thinking he had made it out of the woods...apparently not.

The equally tall student scoffed in Gohan's face and grabbed him by the front of his hoodie, pulling him in close, "No way a scrawny pick like you could have knocked me over by accident. I'm too heavy for someone your size. You HAD to have been trying to knock me down, to humiliate me. Well newsflash _man._ You're about to get REALLY humiliated." He seethed in the warrior's face before shoving him off and throwing a huge punch.

Gohan sighed internally and watched the punch in slow motion. He checked his surroundings to make sure of who was around. Only a couple of students were watching this hallway and no one appeared to be anyone he knew by name, besides Lime of course. With a deep breath Gohan crouched and ducked the swing. The guy had obviously put a lot into the punch because he stumbled when his fist kept going. This seemed to both confuse and infuriate him. He threw another punch, sturdier this time, but Gohan again ducked it. A straight, a hook, an uppercut, left jab right cross combo, nothing the guy tried was hitting Gohan and for the life of him he couldn't figure out why.

"Why won't you stay still!?" The confused student raged as his punches gradually got sloppier. Meanwhile Gohan needed a way to end the fight without actually fighting. He couldn't even fight back if he wanted to because of his wrist suppressor. An idea struck Gohan like lightning from his inhibitor and he had an idea.

 _"This will probably get me a bit of a zap but I should be fine."_ He thought to himself as he tilted his head to the side to barely avoid a straight. Gohan took advantage of the fact that people were focused on his head and the student's hands as this way he could perform some slight of hand. See to move unseen Gohan would have to move his hands at a speed that would likely end with his fist protruding from this kid's back. However since they were focusing on a certain point away from his hands he could pull some magician level slight of hand with a speed boost that wouldn't kill his opponent.

Faster than anyone would notice Gohan ducked another wide hook and as he came up he shot his pointing finger out just under the speed of sound and poked the kid on multiple pressure points in his upper leg, side and arm. Gohan stepped back after he had done this and waited a second. Immediately the guy looked kind of tired and his fist sagged at his side. Gohan heard him mutter something like 'what the' and he went to take a step forward but found his leg asleep and so instead he just stumbled forward. "What's...wrong with...me..." He said as he took another step forward and fell to the ground. He couldn't seem to stand and his friends helped him into a sitting position and Gohan merely bowed to him.

"It looks like you're having a bad day, I'll just go." Gohan said to the guy who's face seemed to boil over a second in fury before he breathed deeply and exhaled with his eyes screwed shut. "Yeah yeah just get out of here." The student said as his friends helped him to his feet. And with that Gohan continued on his path to lunch with Lime right behind him.

"You handled that really well Gohan!" She complimented as they walked up the stairwell. They made it to the roof and ate in peace with no further interruptions. Gohan remembered as he sat there rubbing his stomach that he should tell Lime about the afternoon he had coming up.

"So Lime, I'm hanging out with the human peeps after school today." He informed her casually and a surprised look came over her face. Gohan socializing with other people was definitely a good sign in her books and a small smile came over her face.

"That's great Gohan! Am I catching Nimbus home today then?" She asked the relaxed teen before her who appeared to be looking up at the clouds. He shook his head no to her question before continuing.

"No no, I thought I'd take you home myself." Gohan told her and she raised a brow at him. She could just as easily catch Nimbus and not have to worry about impeding on Gohan's day whatsoever. In fact Lime thought that she would much prefer doing that and giving Gohan more time with his other friends than him walk her just for the sake of it. She decided to voice her concerns.

"Gohan, I can catch Nimbus just fine, I don't need you to take me yourself. Besides if I go myself you'll have more time to hang out with them and enjoy yourself." She said to him, adamant about her point. Gohan knew she was right and trying to be considerate of him and a small frown came over his face. He just felt like it was a bad idea to go with Videl straight from school.

"Thank you Lime but I just feel I have to do this that's all. You won't change my mind." Gohan told her firmly but with a gentle tone that told her he had a lot on his mind. She frowned in concern at his words but figured it was best left alone. It didn't _really_ matter anyway she supposed.

 **After School that day**

The group of 5 were walking towards the school gates chatting. Under normal circumstances Gohan would have tried to get Lime home via the roof but as they were about to turn to the stairwell Erasa walked out the room and suggested that they walk together to the gates before Gohan split off to take Lime home. So now here they were, with Gohan thinking of the nearest alleyway he could use to fly off with Lime soonest while Erasa gushed about how much fun they would all have and Videl eyes him suspiciously in her peripherals when she thought Gohan didn't notice.

The group stepped out the front of the school and Gohan turned to the teenagers. "I'll see you all at the food court then in roughly 20 minutes. Videl wanted to ask how he planned on making the trip to Lime's place and back then to the mall in only 20 minutes but was distracted by Sharpener talking to her about something or another as Gohan and Lime walked in the opposite direction to them in the direction of Lime's village.

Gohan's eyes darted back and forth as he searched for an alley and succeeded in spotting one a few minutes down the road. He pulled Lime in that direction and noticed she seemed to be looking at him in thought. As they walked Lime thought about the big change Gohan had gone through in only the past 2 days. In the beginning he rarely talked, even to her. He seemed to like to avoid using his words as much as possible and in only the two short days he had spent at school he spoke in full sentences and could hold a conversation. _"School really has been good for him. And I know he's been having trouble with Videl but I'm sure they'll get past that and become good friends."_ She thought as they walked.

Gohan eventually grew curious at her small smile and smiled back due to its contagiousness. The older teenager chuckled slightly at her blank smile and queried about her expression, "What?" He asked her jovially, "What's with the look?" He asked to which she simply sighed and looked forward, not responding at first. However she eventually thought of what she wanted to say and responded with.

"I'm so glad to have you as my best friend Gohan." She said and Gohan chose not to respond to that. His smile widened, stretching his lips happily across his face and he shook his head slightly at how soft he was becoming. They took a few steps into the alley when Gohan felt something funny. Something that irked at the pit of his stomach, telling him something was extremely wrong. His fighting sense was obviously trying to tell him something but he generally tried to ignore that sense. He kind of wanted to stamp the fighter right out of himself but this time it was...different. It was trying desperately to warn him of something that he couldn't quite place. That's when he felt a presence behind him and he heard a noise that would forever engrain itself into his memory and his being. The sound of a knife entering human flesh, followed by the strangled gasp of a female.

He spun around so fast that wind blew down the alley and caught Lime as she began to fall. "LIME! NO!" He bellowed, his energy seeping into his voice and booming down the alley, slamming into the criminal like a gale force wind and unnerving him slightly. He held his ground however brandishing his knife.

"If you want that bitch to get help you better give me everything of value you have, and IF you do that, I MIGHT just let you get past and to a hospital Mr Top Floor." The guy said and Gohan glanced up at him and immediately recognition tore through him like he was the one who had been stabbed.

 ***FLASHBACK***

 **Gohan sighed exasperatedly and stepped into the elevator which had a man wearing a Grey hoodie in it. The young Saiyan noticed that he had what looked like a tattoo of a snake that started with the head on the back of his hand and disappeared assumingly up his arm but due to the sleeves he couldn't tell for sure. Gohan looked suspiciously at the man who had his hands in his pockets and was looking at the floor. Gohan knew that there was something off about this guy but firstly, this man was of no threat to him, and second it wasn't his job to stop him**

 ***FLASHBACK***

The memories ripped through Gohan's mind as he saw the snake tattoo on the hooded man's arm and immediately realised he could have stopped this guy right from the beginning. He had obviously targeted Gohan for his apparent riches and the young man hated himself for not even calling someone about it. _"This is...all my fault."_ He realised with a stab in his heart that came of no action from the man with the knife. He kept running the scenarios in his head as Lime gasped in his hands and he tried to stabilise her, pressuring the wound trying to staunch the bleeding but the blood started spilling out of her mouth and Gohan had to sit her up more so she didn't drown in her blood but it just kept coming. Obviously the criminal was no artist with the knife and had hit something vital. She gargled and moaned his name as her face was stricken with fear

Gohan sat on the side of the street in an alleyway in pure agony. In his arms lay an Auburn-haired girl gasping for air that she so desperately needed as her lungs began to fill up with blood due to the knife wound she suffered. Gohan, almost in tears, desperately tried to comfort her, hoping that she'd make it but as her Ki faded he knew that there was nothing he could do for her. Blood was spilled that night and a life that Gohan would never get back left him.

Gohan sat there with Lime's now lifeless body in his hands for another 30 seconds quietly sobbing as he rocked her in his arms as blood stained his hands and halfway up his forearm on his left hand. Watching her lifeless eyes locked onto his slowly sucked the life out of Gohan until he merely sat there, no longer sobbing, no crying, no rocking. He felt numb. He was so conditioned to be devoid of emotions that could result in violence he froze for a moment. "Well shit, she's dead huh? Maybe if you were a bit faster this wouldn't have happened eh? Money. Now. Or you get it like the girl did." He threatened, completely unfazed by the fact that he had just ended an innocent life.

His words seemed to jump start something in Gohan and his eyes darkened and his jaw tightened. He brought his hand down to her face, closing her eyelids. "I'm sorry Lime. I know you always wanted me to be what was deep within me. To be a hero and keep on helping people, and I PROMISE you I will. But this time...just for now...I'm not going to be a hero. I'm going to be an _avenger."_ And he meant every word of it.

The murderer simply thought Gohan had broken from the trauma of the girl dying in his arms and just sighed. Hoping the kid would give him the money soon, he seemed like a nice guy after all. He didn't want to kill him too if he didn't have to. Just then the wind started to pick up. Gohan stood up, still clutching her body in his arms. " _YOU!"_ he shouted accusingly at the man who murdered his best friend. The man took a nervous step back as the very street seemed to start shaking. "How... _DARE..._ you!" He struggled to force out between his clenched jaw.

"Wh-what the fuck are you!?" He said as lightning started to dance off of Gohan's skin. His pupils disappeared and his head rocked back slightly for a second as golden orbs of energy seemed to emerge from his hair.

"AGH! HRRRGH!" Reveberated from his throat as he growled in a mixture of physical and emotional pain. His body was screeching for him to stop due to the pain the inhibitor was causing him. If he had been a human he would have been killed 5 times over by now but he kept pushing...for Lime...

He began to doubt whether or not he could overpower his own inhibitor. Logically he knew it was impossible, it was designed custom for his own energy signature. But he couldn't just let Lime's death go unavenged. Go without JUSTICE. He couldn't but he also knew that it just wasn't humanly possible to overpower hard facts and technology. At that thought however another memory shot through him like a bullet.

 ***FLASHBACK***

 **"Ha! As if that puny human contraption could ever truly stop you." A deep gravelly voice remarked in mirth. There at the doorway, leaning on crutches stood the mighty Saiyan Prince himself.**

 **"Vegeta?" Gohan vocalised queryingly, "What are you doing here? Aren't you normally still rehabilitating at this time of the day?" Gohan asked innocently receiving a slight glare from the proud warrior.**

 **"Normally yes but I sensed your energy just after you left your blasted** _ **school**_ **or whatever. It felt erratic and unchecked so when I saw that you were heading this way I thought to reprimand you for it." Vegeta gave Gohan a once over with his eyes and noted his attire, lingering slightly on the inhibitor. "A true warrior is prepared for battle at all times brat, even in times of peace." He scolded lightly.**

 **Gohan merely sighed in response to that, "I told you Vegeta, I don't fight anymore. It's too dangerous. Until you're rehabilitated no-one alive has the slightest chance of stopping me. That's WHY I stopped training." Gohan reminded the Saiyan prince who grumbled in dissatisfaction. "Besides, you're wrong about what you said. My inhibitor is** _ **designed**_ **to stop me. I designed it."**

 **"Gah! No contraption of gears and metal can hold back a Saiyan's pride." Vegeta shot back proudly with his chin up.**

 **"Oh really? Too bad** _ **pride**_ **isn't an actual quantifiable force or I'd look into it." Goku's son replied scornfully, annoying Vegeta, "I work with facts and science Vegeta and no amount of** _ **good intentions**_ **or** _ **saiyan talent**_ **can overcome the specially produced** _ **plotdeviceium**_ **that** __ **absorbs excess energy and rebounds it into an electrical shock that freezes all neuro signals and stops any form of thought or emotion in it's tracks." Gohan finished with a smirk on his face thinking he had won. It turned to a scowl when Vegeta shook his head sadly.**

 **"If only you could hear yourself. Pathetic really. And I had such high hopes for you." Gohan snarled and a low growl rumbled up his chest and out his throat, "Maybe you truly believe that, maybe you don't. Either way, if you wanted you could overcome that anytime you wanted." Vegeta said and, without any enjoyment, left the lab having said what he wanted to say.**

 ***FLASHBACK***

"Not humanly possible...true...but I'm NOT human! I AM A SAIYAN! AND A SAIYAN WOULD NEVER ALLOW THE DEATH OF THEIR FRIEND TO GO UNAVENGED!" He bellowed and thought about how badly he wanted to _kill_ the man. To _hurt_ him. The lightning danced off his flesh and seared his nerves. But he fought through it, screaming ever louder in defiance of his own creation. Now the lightning was arcing off of Gohan to hit the floor and the walls around him, leaving scorch marks that still smoked. Now a wispy yet barely visible blue flame began to rise off of him like steam.

The inhibitor pushed back on him and so he threw himself against it mentally, crouching lower and screaming louder.

 _"No contraption of gears and metal can hold back a Saiyan's pride."_ Vegeta's voice echoed in his mind.

Gohan began repeating this mantra over and over again in his mind. Over and over and over and over he kept saying it while hurling himself at the barrier that was restricting him from fighting. From doing what his blood so boiled for him to do.

"NO CONTRAPTION OF GEARS AND METAL CAN HOLD BACK A SAIYAN'S PRIIIDE!" He bellowed before throwing his whole being at the wall with a scream that ripped through the air and caused a shockwave that threw the murderer against a wall. And with that the wall shattered like glass and his scream intensified and the ground began to crack around him. The lightning that seemed to be sticking to his body was blown off of him and it danced along the ground and walls as if he had blown a net off of his body. "HAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUGGGGGHHHH!" And with that final air-renting bellow his hair shot to gold and his inhibitor exploded, his eyes flashing Teal. The murderer tried to struggle to his feet to run away but he appeared to be frozen in fear and pain.

Gohan layed Lime's body on the floor before standing straight and staring at the criminal who killed her. He wasted no time in his rage and shot at the guy who reached for his knife. Gohan got there first and kicked the knife and it flew off and sunk into a concrete wall like it was gelatin. The criminal simply looked stunned with his jaw dropped onto the floor. Gohan leaned down and grabbed him by the throat. The man struggled and kicked but it meant nothing to Gohan who just squeezed tighter. "You really got unlucky today huh buddy?" He muttered to the criminal with a grim look on his face. Without another word to him he crushed his threw him against the wall where he hit his head on the bricks and died on impact. The dead body of the killer just slumped against the wall.

Gohan simply looked at it for a while and while he felt a slight bit of remorse for having killed him, he knew the world was better this way. He dropped to his knees and fell to his base form simply looking at the lifeless corpse of Lime and wishing he had just let her catch Nimbus home. Why...? WHY HADN'T HE LET HER!? And with that the tears began flowing again and sirens could be heard in the distance approaching.


	3. Chapter 3

**4 days after Lime's death**

Gohan was sitting on a mountain peak staring over the forest in silence. He hadn't moved since he left the crime scene. He had just sat here and watched the world pass by. He knew he said he would get to protecting the world again, and he would for her. But it hurt damn it. And he was still afraid of what might happen if he lost control of his power. So for now, he was just sitting and thinking atop this mountain. Contemplating the frailty of human life. Right now you're probably wondering why he doesn't just revive her with the Dragonballs. THAT was a whole other story...

 ***FLASHBACK***

 **2 days had passed since the Cell Games and everyone was recovering from their wounds. The only person not resting was arguably one of the worst. Granted Gohan had a faster healing factor than any of the human fighters. But then that did not account for Piccolo who had the fastest healing factor, and yet the green fighter was still unconscious. Piccolo had suffered a serious injury to his head and Popo feared that he had damaged the organ in his brain that allowed him to regenerate and it was taking him into a hibernative state to heal. There was no telling if he would ever wake up. That had dealt a severe blow to the young Gohan who had now lost his two closest male figures in 1 fight.**

 ***FLASHBACK***

Gohan had tried gathering all the dragonballs to bring Piccolo out of his predicament but they were nowhere to be found on the radar. They were told that they had probably gone with Piccolo into Hibernation and Dende was still learning what he could from Popo on how to be guardian. Basically, if they ever wanted Dragonballs again they'd have to hope for Piccolo to wake up, at least long enough to teach Dende how to make them. This had been like a kick between the legs for Gohan and had caused him a lot of emotional pain and anger in his youth. He couldn't get his father back, he couldn't get Piccolo back, and he couldn't get Lime back. Nothing could be fixed the easy way as it was now and so Gohan would have to be careful if he got back into fighting again. The whole world was like a city of glass and he had his hands full of stones. He could destroy it all if he wasn't careful so he'd have to watch it.

He breathed deeply and jumped off deciding to hide out in one of the trees nearer to his home. He flipped and somersaulted as he free fell before using his Ki to slow himself down before he hit the ground. He didn't want to disturb nature after all. He walked towards his home for a few minutes before picking a tree to hang around in. He leapt up into a comfy looking tree branch and fell asleep.

He was awakened from his peaceful dream about his father when he felt something hit him on the side of the head with not a lot of force behind it. His head tilted in the direction opposite the side he got hit from and his body sagged to the right. He heard a gasp and felt a strange falling sensation and he realised at the very last second. _"Oh I'm falling out of a tree..."_ He thought dryly.

 ***THUD***

Gohan opened his eyes and yawned, unconcerned. Until he noticed there was a person underneath him. "What the fuck?" Gohan muttered, then his eyes widened. What if this was his mother and he had just cursed right in front of her? He would be dead for sure. With that in mind Gohan shot to his feet and offered his hand to help up the person underneath him and immediately realised that this was definitely not his mother. Sure it had the same dark Black hair as Chi-chi. But she was slightly too short to be the Son Matriarch and Gohan was fairly sure that his mother had never worn Biker shorts and pig-tails. "Videl?" Gohan queried in utter confusion.

The girl groaned in pain and Gohan realised how heavy he would have been to the small teenager, no matter how strong she was. He got on his knee and pulled Videl into a sitting position, using the trunk of the tree he had fallen from to support her. After a few minutes she seemed capable of talking and breathing normally when she looked him up and down and then smiled.

"Thank god you're okay, I was worried I wouldn't catch you in time." She said with the smile still stretching against her pained expression. Her statement confused Gohan for a moment until he realised when he started to fall she must have panicked and tried to catch him. He shook his head at the noble yet pointless gesture.

"You didn't have to do that Videl. I would have been fine." He assured her before raising a brow, "What are you even doing out here at my house, shouldn't school be on or something?" He asked her and she just looked at him for a long time with her lips pulled into a thin, grim line.

"Gohan you've been gone for four days. It's Saturday today. You haven't been to school and so I got your home number from the school and your mother asked us to come and try to help out." She explained to him before biting her lip and looking down thoughtfully, as if she wasn't sure if she should say something to him. She apparently decided that she should because she locked eyes with him and he could see she had steeled herself for whatever it was she was about to say to him.

"We know Gohan. We know what happened. I was one of the first ones on the scene since I work for the Police and all. I came alone but I didn't want to talk to you about it for the police or anything. I want to talk to you about it because I know you really must be torn up inside about this and I want to help." She took a deep breath after saying all that not knowing how Gohan would respond at all and if he did whether it would be a positive or negative reaction. Gohan just looked at her for a while after she said that, seemingly not knowing what to do or say to her.

"You're just like _him"_ Gohan muttered more to himself than to her but she caught it anyway, "Always trying to help me." He added, this time even quieter, it was barely a whisper, but Videl was right in front of him so she still heard it. She frowned in concern for the boy who's face had gone completely blank and he had turned on his crouched heel and allowed himself to fall back against the trunk of the tree, sitting next to her.

Gohan could tell she was just trying to help him and he wasn't some kind of stranger to death who was dealing with his first loss badly. No, he was cut deep by Lime's death and it would forever become imprinted in his soul and had just added another bit of character to him, but it wasn't what had him so blank right now. What had him blank was that emotion she was trying to hide from him. Fear. Obviously he hadn't done anything about the body and had simply left it there in the street next to Lime's. If the police had found it and Videl obviously knew Gohan had been with Lime when the accident happened then it was likely she was afraid of Gohan and what he potentially did in regards to the dead murderer. Gohan knew that she wasn't use to death like he was but the fact that she seemed apprehensive to be here alone with him hurt his feelings a bit, though truth be told half of him wished she wasn't here at all right now.

He took a deep breath and sat in silence awaiting the questions he knew would come but was not exactly prepared to deal with. There was tense quiet between the two teenagers that neither wanted to break but Videl knew that if she wanted to help Gohan she'd have to talk to him about it and that required making the first move and asking questions about it.

"So...how did it happen?" She asked tentatively and Gohan, eyes still closed, loudly exhaled the breath he had been holding unknowingly. He knew this question would come and had already decided on the way to answer that was simplest. He steeled his nerves and practiced the words in his head so he didn't screw them up or cry or something.

"Me and Lime had just split up from you guys..." Gohan started, and immediately realised he would never be ready to talk about this like he thought he would be. Already his breathing became labored and stuttery as opposed to how he thought he would fare. He took another deep breath and swallowed hard before continuing, "We walked into an alleyway not far from where we left you to use as a shortcut...then some guy who has been following me recently rushed her and stabbed her from behind. He must have punctured a lung or something because her mouth started to fill up with blood really quickly and she was coughing and sputtering on it in my arms..." He recounted, trying to sound objective about it but even to him it was obvious how much emotion was in his voice. He tried to continue but his breathing was extremely broken and he was stuttering now and so he just dropped his head and clenched his fists.

He sat there like that and Videl turned to him and hugged him around the shoulders and rubbed his back. "It's okay Gohan, you don't have to tell me the rest, just know I'll be here to listen if you need it." She told him simply before pulling away and standing up and offering the teenager a hand. "We should go back, your mother said she was making dinner and wanted you home for it."

The fact that she was so helpful and polite and nice still made Gohan extremely angry due to how much she reminded him of his father but this time he didn't let it get to him. If he got mad at every good person that reminded Gohan of his sob story he'd never make friends as good as his father was and so he decided that, as much pain as it caused the young teen, he'd just have to push it to the side and take the good with the bad and learn to get past that and see them as an individual rather than grouping them all under his father.

With that in mind, he looked up and saw the hand she was offering him. He knew she wouldn't be able to pull him up on her own but it would seem rude if he didn't take the help she was offering him and so he took the hand but didn't put any power behind it and when he felt her pull on his hand he used his Ki to lift himself off the tree trunk, making it look like she helped him on to his feet. He uttered a quiet but audible thanks and they walked back to Gohan's home together where he could already smell a delicious home cooked meal being cooked. It was then that Gohan realised exactly how hungry and thirsty he was after all this time without a good meal and glass of cool water. His stomach growled louder than any of the wild animals he had encountered out in the wild these past few days and Videl laughed openly at that.

"Somebody's hungry." She pointed out with a raised brow and a grin. Gohan only grinned slightly back in response but she could tell by the expression on his face that he was still hurting. Chi-chi of course fussed over Gohan and got mad at him for not coming home sooner and then seemingly at the drop of a hat it turned into her worrying about how much he had eaten and how skinny he would get if he didn't eat well and her muttering that she'd have to make him extra. And how she should have never let him leave home to go live in the city. After she finished fussing however she seemed to realise the gravity of the situation and squeezed her son half to death. Truthfully this was why Gohan had gone into hiding near his old home rather than hide out in his apartment. Because he subconsciously wanted to be nearer to his family for _this._ Videl decided she was overstaying her welcome and thought now was a good a time as any to start the long journey home. She quietly snuck out the house after giving one last look at Gohan hugging his mother and stepped out the front door, softly closing it behind her.

 **The morning 3 days later (Tuesday): 7am**

Gohan woke up early and decided that this would be another training day. He had decided 2 days before that he should get back to training, in order to fulfill his word. That it was the day he had to move on for Lime. He already felt like he had left it too long and while by human standards, grieving for a few weeks even was considered normal and it was true that the pain of loss never truly left you, only became bearable over time, Gohan needed it to become bearable right NOW. He made a promise to that girl and he intended to keep it, effective as of that day. Gohan got up out of his bed that was still at his old house from before he left and made his way to his cupboard and opened it up. He had no Gi's to wear at the moment since he had outgrown his old ones and he hadn't had new ones made for obvious reasons, but until he got some new ones he figured it would be fine to wear spare clothing. He pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a zipless, sleeveless hoodie, a white long-sleeved undershirt and some dirty old sneakers. With that done he flew out his window and to the nearest wasteland.

Now that the inhibitor was gone his body ached for action, for exercise, to be worked and refined. Sure Gohan normally did that to some degree with working out but that was totally different to engaging in combat for a Saiyan. For a warrior Gohan knew the importance of refining his fighting ability otherwise all that power he had was for nothing. He practiced Katas and fighting form. Making sure his technique was impeccable. However even this Gohan knew was no substitute for real combat. In real combat his strategy as a fighter was tested as his enemy may have any array of abilities, strengths and weaknesses. He could throw a perfect punch a million times flawlessly and if his opponent was invulnerable to his fists it didn't matter. Being a warrior was about adapting and changing his mode of combat on order to fit the situation, which, was impossible without someone to fight.

Piccolo was out of the picture for obvious reasons, Vegeta was still too early in his rehabilitation to be useful as a fighting partner, and god knows the other's still weren't powerful enough. "Man this sucks..." He muttered as he threw punches and kicks at an invisible enemy that mostly seemed to take the shape of Cell in his mind but occasionally changed to look more like Frieza. Elbows swinging and knees flying Gohan pushed himself as he could without an actual enemy for another hour before deciding that this wasn't working. "This ISN'T working!" Gohan growled frustratedly and in anger he cast a blast to his right that blew up a small plateau. "I need SOMEONE to fight! I need REAL combat experience!" He shouted to no-one in particular but it appeared as if someone had listened as he suddenly felt a Ki.

He was stunned into silence and immediately all emotion but surprise evaporated from his being. He felt a fairly powerful Ki entering the Atmosphere over West City. "BULMA, TRUNKS, VEGETA!" Gohan yelled in fear as he shot to West City as fast as he could in his Base Form, not quite confident in the personality change of Super Saiyan. He broke the sound barrier and there was a sonic explosion as he rocketed out from the mountain area to the city that was a thousand miles away.

 **WEST CITY: Meanwhile**

It was a slightly overcast, cool day in West City. People were going about their business and purchasing innumerable objects and items. Family's walked the streets with ice cream. People ate at cafes and restaurants in total calm, none the wiser to the mortal danger they would all soon face. Suddenly, with a crack like a gunshot, the clouds parted above them and a massive object took residence in the sky between the city and the sun. A certain bald ex-monk was shopping with his wife and daughter in West City when he heard the sound of the ship rocket into the atmosphere from hyperspace. He struggled to look over the many bags and boxes he was carrying trying to see what all the commotion was about.

At the sight of what appeared to be a giant spaceship in the sky the boxes and bags dropped from his hands and off his arms. He sensed the massive power coming from the spaceship and realized immediately that this could only mean trouble. His eyes hardened and his fists curled in. "18, take Marron and get out of here." He told her, his voice deceivingly controlled, like the calm before the storm. 18 looked at him surprised before her face formed into a frown.

"Krillin if you think I'm leaving you here to fight whatever is up there then-" but the blonde Cyborg never got to finish her sentence as she was cut off by an angry yet panicked and urgent expression on his face. The look alone was enough to shut her up and she could see the deep-rooted fear in his eyes. 18 could not sense energy, she never could, but whatever Krillin DID sense up there was obviously big for him to be acting this way.

"I SAID GET OUT OF HERE NOW!" He shouted as people ran away from it around them. 18 looked back with worry evident on her face but she nodded in understanding and picked up their daughter who was asking questions, sounding afraid. She muttered for him to be careful before shooting off as fast as she could. With his family out of the way Krillin looked back at the spaceship as he saw 4 black dots drop out of the ship and hover beneath it for a little before making their way towards him. "Of course they come for me first..." He mumbled in despair as the figures grew closer.

Krillin's first surprise when they came into view was that they were wearing some kind of space armor that resembled, but was still overall different, from the armor Frieza's men used to wear on Namek. His eyes hardened and he glared over the 4 figures. He noticed what were definitely scouters on their faces as they appeared to be talking amongst themselves. The fighter really didn't want to have to deal with this kind of thing. They had 7 years of peace and he was starting to get used to it. Hopefully they could avoid trouble.

"What do we have here? An Earthling with an exceptional power who isn't running away?" One of them said in an amused tone. He was tall, probably almost Piccolo's height and he had purple, scaly skin. He had what looked like a dorsal fin on the top of his head and webbed fingers.

"Perhaps he isn't afraid of us?" One of them asked but judging by the tone when it was said, Krillin guessed that he wasn't being serious and he began to feel a sinking feeling. This one was only a few inches taller than him and he had skin that shone in the light and was marked all over like a golfball. He lacked a nose but retained small holes on his face for nostrils and didn't have any discernable lips.

"Or maybe he thinks he's going to fight us." One of them who was slightly shorter than the first and had an elongated cranium and yellow leathery flesh said with a sinister tone and Krillin gulped, eyes darting back and forth between them all as they slowly floated around him, surrounding him. A bead of sweat rolled down his temple and he saw one of them move for him from behind and so the fight began.

Krillin jerked to the side and barely avoided the first one who shot past him with his foot extended in the dodged kick. Immediately the two in front of Krillin charged in and threw flurries of attacks at him. Krillin dodged and blocked all of their blows with, admittedly, some amount of effort. He ducked a roundhouse aimed at his head by the tall golfball one all of a sudden and hopped up and kicked the alien in the chin. He spun around just in time to block a punch aimed at his chest with his forearm from the fourth alien who had yet to attack until now. He was roughly Yamcha's height and seemed mostly humanoid except for his pointy ears and deep Blue flesh with thin black lips. He had a kind of helmet on that Krillin knew was for soldiers who couldn't withstand certain atmospheres or who needed to go underwater. Krillin slipped another punch from him and grabbed hold of his extended arm and used him as a mace to smack the tall purple one, sending them both into the street below them.

The yellow one managed to get a kick in to Krillin's side and he flew off to the side and smashed through the glass window of an office building and rolled up against the far wall. He saw an energy blast coming at him and he got to his feet and backhanded the blast right back the way it came, hitting the golfball opponent in the face and making him fall from the sky. The short human shot out of the building like a bullet and kicked the yellow one in the solar plexus, folding his enemy around his leg. Krillin removed his appendage and followed up with a right uppercut and a spinning roundhouse to the body that knocked him away. Just then the one wearing the helmet came up from behind Krillin and put him in a full-nelson. The tall purple one was flying at the immobilised human with the intent to kill him.

Krillin managed to squirm out of the hold and threw an elbow backwards that smashed the glass-like visor to the helmet shattering Iit. His opponent made a distressed noise and Krillin spun and kneed him between the lungs, winding him. Krilling wrapped his fingers together behind his opponents head and flung him at the purple adversary charging him. This time he saw it coming and dodged his flying comrade, he kept his eyes on him for a moment too long and got a solid punch to his jaw from the short ex-monk. He saw the blue alien suffocating now that his helmet was compromised. He writhed on the floor with a look of panic and fear on his face as he clutched at his throat. Krillin flinched at this but knew it was him or them.

The other 3 opponents seemed to be enraged at this and charged Krillin with renewed vigour. He was managing to hold them off but if he made one mistake it was game over for him. He concentrated as hard as he could on all three of them, dodging and blocking blows. He could only do it for so long however and one of them managed to get a knee in on his nose, stunning him. He threw his arm out in a blind act of defense where he sensed one and made contact, knocking them into an alleyway. He then got punched in the back and he cried in pain. The one who landed the initial knee then side-kicked him in the stomach and sent him flying. He hit the road and was rolling end over end down the street before he managed to get his feet underneath him. Even hurt as he was he managed to throw himself to the side and roll to avoid a blast. The one who threw the blast came in to attack and Krillin fell back into his back and planted his feet on the chest of the charging assailant and rolled backwards over his shoulders and used their momentum against them, flinging them through a construction site where they smashed through a few beams before crashing to the ground.

Krillin continued his roll onto his feet but was too slow and received a punch to the temple that made him slide backwards along the ground until his back touched a brick wall. Then a knee was driven into his gut and the wall behind him cracked from the force. The human fighter dropped to his knee gasping for air. His eyes were beginning to droop and he looked up to see the 3 remaining opponents charging blasts. _"Well, this is how it ends for me huh? I'll be seeing you then Goku..."_ Krillin thought solemnly and then the blasts were fired. Krillin closed his eyes and waited for death and found it appeared to be strangely painless and his face was hit with warm air. Actually it felt like nothing happened at all.

Krillin's eyes shot open as he heard someone yell, "What the!?" In surprise. Suddenly Krillin realised what the warm feeling was. Standing before him, taller now than he had been 2 years ago when Krillin last saw him, was the son of his best friend with a gold flame-like Aura surrounding him.

"Gohan!" Krillin exclaimed excitedly, "Boy am I glad to see you, I was just about to be toast." He explained sheepishly, ashamed he couldn't take down these guys by himself. Gohan looked at Krillin over his shoulder and gave him a small smile.

"No problem Krillin. Long time no see huh?" The boy said in response before his expression turned serious and he looked forward. "So who are these guys?" Gohan questioned his injured friend who seemed as if he didn't know before he even answered.

"No idea, they just showed up in some kind of ship and attacked me." Krillin explained. Gohan looked between the three of them thoughtfully. He looked in the distance and saw that there was a dead 4th one.

 _"Figures"_ Gohan thought, as he began lowering his power, _"They aren't very strong at all, they just ganged up on him."_ Gohan dropped to his base form out of Super Saiyan and they looked utterly confused by this. Apparently, despite the fact that they seemed associated with possibly remnants of Frieza's army, they weren't aware of Super Saiyans. Or at least they don't know what a Super Saiyan is supposed to look like.

"What do you want?" Gohan asked them with a cold tone and a glare, standing protectively in front of the injured Human fighter. He really didn't expect a real answer from them and imagined they would say something like it was none of his business. Gohan had already roughly gauged their power, accounting for them having hidden power if they knew how to hide their true strength.

"We're here as our employer is interested in broking this planet and selling it for currency. This planet is quite beautiful you see, it should fetch a fine amount on the markets." The biggest of the 3, who had Purple scaly hide, explained as he adjusted and fiddled with his equipment. "Part of our job, I regret to inform you, is eliminate the more powerful lifeforms who may attempt to stop us." He said as his tone grew more foreboding and he fiddled with a dial on the side of his arm blaster.

Suddenly, a blade of pure Ki sprung from the barrel. The blade of Ki was rougly a foot and a half long and he charged Gohan with it immediately. He saw this coming and ducked the horizontal swipe. He pushed backwards and up away from his attacker who landed where Gohan had just been before smirking devilishly and pushing up to catch his prey. He caught Gohan in the air and lunged forward trying to run Gohan through with the blade but the Saiyan twisted his body so that he was side-on, making the blade pass by him rather than hit him in the rib area. The attack had the invader's whole force behind causing him to drift by unbalanced as Gohan followed through with his twist, floating around till he was behind his off-balanced opponent who spun around with his blade in a backhand swing that Gohan tilted his head back away from.

Now that the scaly foe was face-to-face with Gohan he wasted no time in launching a flurry of angry swipes at the spiky-haired nuisance. Gohan, without ever lifting a finger, dodged each of these attacks with grace and it was clearly getting on his opponents nerves, who just now growled in annoyance.

"You're faster than you look huh? Berri! Yo-gert! Let's get this punk!" He screamed. Yo-gert was the first to charge and he was the one with blue golfball skin. Berri seemed to hesitate though as he looked at Gohan, before shaking it off and nervously charging in with the other two. Now the three of them attacked him from any point they could trying to catch him off guard. Gohan simply continued dodging all 3 of them effortlessly before the golfball alien leapt up and fired a huge blast that Gohan phased away from, seeming almost bored as the attack nearly hit his ally with the blade who managed to deflect it into the sky at the last moment. Gohan happened to be floating in the sky right infront of Berri who saw his chance and began to gather Ki for a blast, shaking off the nervous feeling.

He cocked his arm back to throw it but was suddenly face to face with the one he feared. Gohan was there looking into his eyes with that killing intent. The eyes of a savage killer. He froze up in that moment, his heart began to beat against his chest and if he had sweat glands he was sure he'd be soaked. He shook violently and even forgot to breathe as Gohan stared him in the eyes as he distantly heard his teammates charging the murderer before him. Berri's eyes widened dramatically when Gohan smirked at him and said something, "See you in hell asshole." And with that Gohan jerked his head to the left and the last thing Berri saw was the point of his ally's Ki blade.

Yo-gert exclaimed loudly at the brutal show of friendly fire as the offender himself merely stared in shock as Berri hung lifelessly by his skull at the end of his blade with his original target leaning slightly to the side. Gohan threw his elbow back into the blade-wielders liver before spinning around and kicking him hard across the face, putting him straight through a tree and then a building before he came out the other side and hit the ground, barely conscious and with multiple broken bones, laying in a shallow trench made by his body.

Gohan then turned to Yo-gert who was staring in fear at him before steeling himself and charging with his fist cocked. Gohan slipped (boxing term for dodging by just angling the head out of the path of the punch so it 'slips' by them) that first cross and ducked a hook. Yo-gert followed with the motion of his hook and spun around, bringing his leg out in a spinning kick that Gohan leaned his head backwards away from. As that leg came back in position the alien brought his other leg up and then down for Gohan's neck and felt his heart soar as it made contact with his trapezius muscle. However his hopes were crushed when he felt Gohan's arms wrap around his leg and toss him down the street where he bounced off a car, went through a light pole and cracked head first into a building.

Yo-gert struggled to his feet and looked up to see Gohan standing right there with a blast in his hands. "You picked the wrong planet to invade you bastard." And then the last few moments of Yo-gerts existence were occupied by a searing feeling of being disintegrated and a blinding light completely swallowing his being until eventually there was nothing...

 **Sorry this chapter took so long to get out. I had a bunch of assignments due and spent literally all my free time working on them. Hope you like this chapter and the early introduction of a semi-major threat. After this Gohan will go back to being a normal vigilante and high school student for a little while before the next one. I want a good mix of action scenes and character development and life in this. I hope I haven't utterly crushed you guys too much about Lime not being able to come back but I feel if she could just be revived then it would have had little to no impact on Gohan's psyche. Also I know a lot of the details on what exactly happened to everyone at the Cell games is unclear but I did that on purpose. It'll be revealed with time. Until next time yo.**


	4. Chapter 4: FuckingAliens

As the remaining whisps of Yo-gert's existence were wiped out on a molecular level by Gohan's blast, the young warrior stood up straight and stared at the spaceship. He could sense now only 1 power in that ship and it was pretty big. Nothing Gohan couldn't handle in his base form but there was no telling how much power it could be hiding from him. Gohan looked over to where he saw the body of the one who could impaled through the skull and floated towards it. Krillin looked in confusion and disgust as Gohan hefted up one of the corpses and began floating up towards the ship in the sky. He noticed Krillin's look and simply cast a, "Scare tactic" over his shoulder to explain himself. He rose up to where, based on his memory of Frieza's ship, the throne should be and while he couldn't see inside, he was sure that whoever was inside could see him just fine.

Gohan lifted the body up before him by the scruff of its neck, "Leave now or die as your men did!" Gohan demanded of the ship. There were moments of silence and Gohan waited patiently for the sound of the engines to hum to life. As time ticked on and it became evident that it wasn't leaving Gohan's blank face twisted into a scowl before he bared his teeth and growled. Gohan tossed the body he was holding into the Glass-like bubble that signified the pilot's seat. It made a mixture of a thud and a squelched as its bones and muscles were further damaged and compressed. The corpse slid down the ship and fell hundreds of feet to the street below. Gohan had had enough of this and he built up enough Ki in his right hand to destroy the ship in a blast about the size of a large Orange. Just as he prepared to throw it he heard a hissing noise and the glass began to lift on some metal pistons. He let the energy recede back within him and waited. Just within the threshold of the cockpit floated a cloaked figure. "What do yo-?" Gohan began but he was cut off when a fist planted itself on his chest and sent him careening to the Earth on a 45 degree angle from his position.

Right before he hit the road he remembered he needed to minimise damage and used his Ki in a burst behind him to stop his momentum mere feet from the street. Then he was kicked in the back and put through a low brick wall that separated two properties. As Gohan slid on his face and chest he curled his legs behind him and planted his hands in the earth, fingers digging into the solid ground, and he used his grip to throw himself into a front flip. He landed on his feet and spun to face his enemy as he jumped away landing on a street that was perpendicular to the one he was kicked from. He looked back towards his enemy and saw Krillin squaring off against who ever this opponent was. Krillin lept up and swung a kick at the head area and only succeeded in hitting air. The short man somersaulted in the air and flipped as he rotated so that he landed facing the enemy. As his left foot touched down he launched back the way he came throwing a punch at the robed figure.

It side-stepped the ex-monk and caught him by the back of his red T-shirt as he passed by. The invader kneed him in the stomach, momentarily winding him, but the seasoned warrior used the knee as a platform to push away from and gain some distance. The robed figure moved its arms out to its sides, though it had its back to Gohan so he couldn't see whoever it was. Krillin seemed to pale in colour drastically when he saw what was under the cloak and Gohan began to worry. What could scare Krillin like that? Suddenly, as Krillin froze in fear, he was hit with an uppercut to the chin and backhanded through a building. "KRILLIN!" Gohan cried in worry and shot off, catching him before he flew any further. His old friend was alive but unconscious. Gohan put him down on a patch of grass before flying over to the one who put his friend in such a condition.

This...opponent... Was incredibly strong. He had not trained in roughly 3 years due to his inhibitor but he knew he was still more powerful than he had been with Cell, if not a bit rusty in an actual fight. "Who the hell are you!?" Gohan demanded from the robed and hooded figure who appeared to have some kind of dark purple tail extending from the back of the cloak. In response the hidden figure merely chuckled darkly and an obviously alien hand extended from its depths and grasped the material. It was cast aside and the figure beneath left Gohan speechless. The being was obviously lizard-like and most of the exposed skin was a dark purple colour. Most everything else was covered by a sort of stormy grey bio-armor plating that was encrusted with what appeared to be a dark green, crystal-esque substance with two dark grey horns protruding directly to either side.

"F-Frieza?!" The young man stuttered in confusion, "No...no, you're just similar to him." Gohan added a little quieter, taking a cautious approach to the situation. The creature laughed haughtily with a sinister tone before finally responding.

"Quite the bright one I see? Yes you are correct. I am indeed similar to the late Frieza in appearance. I am of his species you see...my name is Vrozan" Of course, Frieza wasn't a one off alien. He had a father and so it stands to reason he had a mother. Logically they had to come from somewhere. "In fact I'm looking to rebuild the renowned Cold Empire you know." He added conversationally. Gohan grimaced at that. He had hoped that just because Frieza was cruel, it didn't mean this being was but it appeared he was wrong. He looked himself over. Baggy jeans and a long-sleeved shirt underneath a sleeveless hoodie, not exactly fighting gear but he would work with it.

"Hmph, and what makes you think for a second I'd let you do that asshole?" Gohan stated aggressively, "if you wanted to do this you should have stayed far from me and tried not to let us find out, not come to me to tell me about your plans for revenge."

"Oh no no, you misunderstand me. I couldn't give even 1 shit less about Frieza. I simply want to profit from his Empire that he left for me so nicely. I heard however that he was defeated by a Saiyan from Earth named Goku." The deceivingly calm alien explained. "I figured I'd come along now and eliminate any threats to establish my rank in the universe."

Gohan grunted with a small smirk gracing his features, "Sorry to tell you, but Son Goku died years ago. I'm his son." Gohan told them earning himself a grin from the mysterious Vrozan.

"I was hoping for that. You are the next best thing." Vrozan remarked entitled-sounding. "I already knew he was dead, A little detail I forced from a particularly wise and powerful creature right before I destroyed most of its people...Namek I believe it was called?" He added, knowing exactly what he did. Gohan's eyes shot open wide in rage.

"Moori..." He thought before his Ki enveloped him and he shot at Vrozan. "You bastaaaaard!" He bellowed with a roar like a wild animal. His fist was caught by the reptilian adversary who proceeded to wrap his tail around Gohan's throat and used it to pelt him across the street. He smashed through the large glass windows of a 24/7 corner store and plowed through a few shelves leaving the cashier stunned, confused and afraid. Gohan sat back up through the glass shards, wood splinters and packaged service station snacks before growling and shooting back out the hole he came from. Vrozan used his tail to try and whip Gohan out of the air but the young fighter ducked it and grabbed it. Using the 5th appendage to pull himself close, he struck Vrozan's cheek with a straight that caused his opponent to slide back a few feet. As soon as Gohan had a foot back on the ground he lunged forward, continuing the assault with an uppercut to the abdomen and a hook to the jaw. Vrozan went bouncing down the road. The alien managed to get his feet beneath him.

As Gohan came forward Vrozan threw his hands forth and launched a blast of bright pink Ki. Gohan was too slow realising it to go around it and threw himself to a side, rolling back on to his feet unharmed. But by now Vrozan held the metaphoric torch of offense. The alien creature charged Gohan and stopped feet away and cast his hand out as a curved wave of Ki launched out at him. He ducked it purely on reflex and watched as it cut a light pole and two-story building clean in half. "Shit" he muttered to himself looking forward just in time to see another Ki blade flying his way, this time too low to duck. The Saiyan sprung up, but Vrozan apparently had counted on that as he launched into the air and lashed out with a spinning tail whip that hit the Black-haired you across his side and sent him rolling through the air.

He regained control in time to see Vrozan go to Double hammer-fist the back of Gohan's neck and so the Saiyan crossed his forearms over his head, catching the blow between them. A shockwave rang out like an explosion from the force of the attack hitting such an immovable object. The two struggled for a moment in that position, trying to win by brute strength. Gohan being both bigger and more muscular than Vrozan began to overpower the alien and straightened out, pushing the attack up and away from himself with his forearms. As soon as Vrozan's arms had been forced above his head Gohan headbutted his enemy in the nose.

Vrozan recoiled from that and clutched a hand to his nose. Gohan then threw a spinning heel kick at his opponent's jaw but the Freiza-lookalike managed to lean back and avoid the kick. As Gohan's body came around to face Vrozan he dropped a chop with his far hand on the alien's shoulder that had him barrelling for the ground like a bullet. Gohan moved faster than Vrozan could detect after such a blow and landed behind Vrozan as the tyrant got to its feet. It heard Gohan behind it and spun around just in time to dodge a left hook from the young fighter.

He followed through with the motion of the hook, turning half way around Before hopping, extending his leg and spinning the rest of the way with a heavy kick, striking Vrozan in the neck with the top of his foot. Vrozan was sent flying by the blow and bounced across the Earth, leaving cracks, craters and trenches in his wake. Gohan followed, not willing to give up his advantage and appeared in Vrozan's path, punching him into the ground. Vrozan rolled upon hitting the ground and spun catching the kick Gohan launched. Using the grip he attempted to slam Gohan into the ground but in the process of doing so, the Saiyan warrior rolled in mid-air, forcing Vrozan to release him.

He landed on his hands and sprung gaining distance. The battlers dashed in at each other and began exchanging powerful blows. Vrozan tried a neck chop but Gohan raised his forearm to block. Gohan attempted a counter in the form of a roundhouse to the body that was guarded. Vrozan threw a straight that was caught and Gohan shot a wide elbow that was stopped. Each blow caused a small shockwave that rocked the streets. Gohan ducked a spinning tail swipe and kicked upwards at Vrozan's chin as the alien came around to face him again. The kick was stopped by both Vrozan's forearms before he countered with a front flip axe-kick that Gohan stopped by raising his arm over his head. The hooded Saiyan, still holding back Vrozan's leg over his head, now had a shot at the exposed back of his opponent and launched a vicious uppercut over his head. Vrozan placed his lizard-like foot on Gohan's still raised blocking arm and pushed, back flipping and avoiding Gohan's uppercut. He fired a blast at the teenage warrior who swatted it into the sky as he dashed forward but in that brief moment the blast was in between them, blocking Gohan's vision of him.

Vrozan shot behind Gohan just under the speed of sound. Gohan sensed his presence too late and turned to receive a cross to his jaw that knocked him back spinning. "Dammit! He's smart!" Gohan thought, "Normally I'd be able to track his every move but due to the blast I didn't see him upon his initial movement, meaning my eyes didn't get the time to adjust!" He got his feet on the ground and the first foot down dug a trench in the road. He jumped up and forward while he did a front flip, using a hand to toss a blast the size of a basketball mid flip. As it curveballed for Vrozan he gathered energy for another one in his other hand. He landed and shot at Vrozan holding the blast for a second longer before throwing it too. His enemy slapped the first blast and his vision was immediately filled with the second one which panicked him a moment before he slapped that out the way and now saw the bottom of Gohan's shoe, being too slow to stop that. Vrozan smashed through a street light and rolled a few feet. Gohan shot at the alien fighter as it began to get to his feet, grabbing hold of his unsuspecting head as he flew past. Gohan pushed his face into the road and dragged him along, tearing up a trench in the bitumen road.

Gohan pulled him up as he continued flying and let him fly for a bit before appearing in his path and kicking him up into the sky. Vrozan found himself accompanied by a powered up blast that struck him in the face. Gohan watched the smoke cloud with concentration, scanning with his eyes for movement. Out of nowhere he flew through the smoke and punched Gohan across the cheek and they both flew to the ground. Gohan backflipped and landed on his feet, seeing Vrozan charging horn-first. Gohan caught a horn in each hand and tried to hold his momentum off. He was pushed along the ground and his veins protruded as his muscles shook, attempting to hold back the colossal force of Vrozan moving at this speed. As Gohan managed to bring him to a stop his muscles relaxed and his brute strength advantage once again came into play. Gohan, still holding him by the horns, smashed Vrozan back and forth into the ground before pulling his face into continuous knees.

As Gohan attempted to pull him into another knee Vrozan got a palm between his face and the knee and used it to pull himself savagely forward. Gohan wasn't ready for the sudden burst of resistance and lost control of his opponent. Vrozan's right horn pierced Gohan's left shoulder and he grunted and tried to restrain his cry of pain. What came out was instead a strangled, muffled growl as Gohan fought to remove the razor sharp horn from his shoulder. With a hard shove Gohan managed to dislodge his desperate opponent from his arm and immediately hot blood began to flow freely out the wound. Before he could do anything about it however he was on the defensive as Vrozan launched an attack on the wounded fighter. He ducked the spinning kick and raised his right arm to catch the tail-whip. With his one good arm in use he was defenseless against the hook to his jaw.

Gohan backed off and his face turned solemn. This was getting dicey, he needed to end this. Gohan powered up to his maximum power in his Base form and launched forward faster than Vrozan could see, kicking him across the face and putting him through multiple buildings. He zipped right through the hole moving faster than Vrozan could track while in his predicament. Gohan flew ahead of Vrozan to where he would be going and spun and kicked Vrozan higher up before seemingly appearing back above him, dropping an elbow right into the center of what appeared to be his cranium. Vrozan hit the ground below on all fours and bellowed with rage. "YOU WILL NOT DEFEAT ME!" The alien invader screamed contemptuously at the young fighter. At that his body was enshrouded by a great green light. He couldn't tell for sure but Gohan would say that it looked like he was changing amongst all that excess energy.

"Oh perfect, he's transforming..." Gohan thought sarcastically, not only that his power was now easily twice what it was before and still shooting up. When the light faded there stood a being not unlike Frieza's final form but with structural differences and different colours. The new figure chuckled deeply, seeming to be entertained by something Gohan wasn't aware of.

"I was only using less than a quarter of my power before. This is my true form!" Vrozan boasted proudly as pink bolts of electricity danced across his lithe, dangerous form.

"You mean you haven't got like 3 more transformations? Oh thank god because that would have got extremely dull and repetitive." Gohan half-joked half-sighed in relief. Vrozan growled in confusion and babbled something about what he was talking about and why he disregarded the ability to transform so lightly. "Um, that'd be because Frieza also hid his power by creating lesser forms. Except he made a lot more. Neither what you just did, nor the ability to transform in general is new to me Vrozan. I've seen it a lot throughout my life." Gohan explained to the now-not-so-cocky extra terrestrial before him. "In fact, I'm capable of transforming myself." He stated, earning a wide eyed expression and a confused exclamation.

Without further explaining Gohan dropped into a crouched stance to power up, a bone chilling roar tearing through his vocal chords and out his mouth, projected through the empty city. The ground cracked beneath him and his feet sunk into the ground and debris and chunks of their surroundings seemed to defy gravity around the young warrior. His aura grew brighter and more flame-like. His hair flashed between deepest Black and the most brilliant Gold before settling on Gold. His eyes flashed a bright teal colour and his hair stood straighter, the smooth, Black flame-like hair he sported now raged wildly like a forest fire, only a lone golden bang and another single hair bang hanging over his forehead. His eyes narrowed in silent ferocity and his mouth drew thinner. His features were now sharper. His muscles bulged just slightly beneath his clothes, pumped with white hot power that seared through his being, totally at his whim.

Vrozan looked on in terror as Gohan merely tilted his head towards his opponent. His eyes narrow but emotionless. Full of rage yet feeling nothing. The tyrant had never been more scared of anything in his life. The being could not sense energy like the Earthling could but he could FEEL the raw power emitted by the boy and it concerned him. But he had not just changed physically, there was something different about him altogether, and that more than anything fostered fear in Vrozan's thoughts.

"This is what is known as a Super Saiyan Vrozan. Take a good look, because it'll be the last thing you ever see." He stated coldly and indifferently, as if he was entirely detached from the situation and unconcerned with the outcome. Vrozan simply gawked before regaining his wits and howling petulantly.

"How can you insinuate something so ridiculous!? My power is over 4 times greater than it was before. There is no possible way you can stand up to me!" Vrozan attempted to argue, or boast really but Gohan's lips merely twisted up slightly into a smirk.

"Unfortunately for you this form multiplies my power by exactly four-fold. However with training and practice it will become much greater. I'm still strong enough compared to you to kill you where you stand." Gohan told him simply, bringing a fresh wave of terror and rage to Vrozan who blindly charged the Super Saiyan. "Tch, fool." Gohan remarked at seeing the blind charge and dodged the flurry of attacks with little effort. He ducked a straight and slipped multiple hooks and jabs. Be blocked a roundhouse with his forearm and viciously kicked Vrozan in the temple, knocking him completely off his guard and momentarily rocking him. Vrozan clutched at his head and peaked at Gohan through his fingers. When he thought Gohan's guard was down he lunged with a neck chop that Gohan caught easily. The young Saiyan squeezed lightly on the hand and Vrozan felt the bones creak and protest as they rolled and were compressed in ways they shouldn't be.

Vrozan lashed out by creating a curved energy blade that aimed to cut Gohan apart from him to opposite shoulder however he weaved away and avoided it completely, even at point blank range. Gohan put a solid uppercut between Vrozan's ribs that left him gasping for air. "As if this wasn't enough...you know...I have another level of power beyond even this?" Gohan told Vrozan who looked disbelieving and afraid. "Oh it's true. Even if you managed to somehow out-do me and overpower me I would simply get angry and ascend, doubling even this power. So to be honest, you never really had a chance." Gohan told the arrogant space pirate. Gohan stared at the injured and humiliated Vrozan thoughtfully for a moment before staring off into space.

"My father was a man of peace." He started and Vrozan looked skeptical of whatever the boy may be trying to accomplish, "In a situation like this he would have taken into account that you're beaten and demoralised, and he would have given you an opportunity to escape in your ship. He would want me to do the same, spare your life, give you a chance to redeem yourself. I take my fathers wishes and advice very seriously." Gohan remarked, releasing Vrozan from his grip, who now looked shocked and hopeful at what he was hearing. Would this boy actually spare him?

"And you didn't kill anyone here on this planet, the worst you did was knock my friend unconscious, you really didn't do anything bad here. So as much as I loathe this, its what my father would have wanted. Last chance, get going now." With that he made a 'shu' ing gesture with his hand in the direction of Vrozan's ship, floating in the sky. Vrozan looked wary, before he spun around and dashed madly for his ship. Gohan merely floated and watched him. Gohan dropped out of Super Saiyan and floated to the ground as the ship left Earth's orbit.

"Huh, it actually worked. And it feels alright. I guess this is why dad did it so often." Gohan thought to himself as he moved over to where Krillin lay unconscious. "You did your best old pal, now lets get you back to your family." Gohan said before he noticed the ground around him seemed to have the tint of sunset. "Wow...that's so bright." But just then he realised that it was a very overcast day and on top of that it was only midday. "Son of a bitch!" Gohan screamed spinning around to see a giant, murderous ball of pink Ki descending towards the Earth. He figured that Vrozan must have flown out to space and thrown it from there. Gohan shot to his maximum power as a Super Saiyan and flew up to the giant ball of death catching it in his two hands. It didn't seem to stop it tho as Gohan merely got pushed down by its massive energy. He slowed it but it still steadily drifted down towards the rooftops of the highest buildings.

"Shit shit shit! I should have just killed the bastard!" Gohan reprimanded himself. He looked around and saw that Krillin was still out of it below him. "DAMMIT! This thing will destroy the whole Earth and probably most of the planets on either side of it! FUCK!" Gohan screamed as he looked around for a way to stop it. Gohan felt it push him down and down until his feet touched the roof top of the tallest building around. He pushed harder against the gigantic blast and noticed that it was beginning to slow. Gohan's feet cracked and sunk into the thick concrete roof of the building. He kept on sinking through it like it was quicksand but the blast was gradually decelerating. Right as Gohan had sunk knee deep into concrete, the blast came to a stop in Gohan's hands. Gohan felt that his reserves were low and, through his hands, injected his ki into the blast, mixing the energy's together before absorbing it all together.

The amount of energy inside him right then was incredible but the state his body was in would not be able to support this much energy for long. Gohan with his new found power shot out into the atmosphere in mere moments where Vrozan floated outside of his ship looking completely thrown for a loop and exhausted. Gohan's aura was brilliant with the influx of energy.

"You know something? I'm kinda happy you're a total fucking coward and that you tried to kill me and everyone on my planet..." He started dangerously as he gathered all his Ki into his right hand, it shook and vibrated with the amount of energy focused into it. "BECAUSE NOW I GET TO SEND YOUR ASS TO HELL!" He bellowed before casting his hand forward, bracing it at the forearm with his other hand as he unleashed all the combined energy of his Super Saiyan form and that blast. The wave was wider and taller than the original blast had been and completely vaporized Vrozan and his ship without so much as faltering. It passed by as if they hadn't even been there. As the blast faded out of existence, Gohan felt extremely tired and sore. He flew back down to the ground and picked up Krillin. As he began hovering away he heard someone scream out for him to wait.

"Who are you!?" Called out a news reporter surrounded by camera men. They all looked nervous and terrified but otherwise okay.

"I...guess I'm a vigi-lante..." Gohan forced out, feeling the exhaustion coming on. He couldn't afford to drop out of Super Saiyan in front of these people though. They asked him if they had really just watched him save the city from the monster and he nodded. They questioned if he would survive his wounds and he joked that he might if he was lucky which obviously had them reeling in panic that he might die. Honestly they weren't that bad compared to other injuries he'd suffered, it was mainly the blood loss from the hole in his arm. With that he flew away from the area and collapsed in the backyard of Capsule Corp where Mrs Briefs was gardening. He blacked out as she began to fuss about him.

 **Jesus this took me awhile. Sorry all I have been extremely sick but hopefully as I am now recovering I'll be able to get another chapter before the end of this week. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the first real battle, review and tell me what you thought about it, that'll be all yo. Till next chapter.**


	5. Chapter 5: Birth of a Vigilante

Gohan woke up surrounded by white walls and a white roof. The place had a sterilised smell to it and nothing moved at all. Gohan found that he couldn't move a muscle.

"Well crap, just perfect, I'm dead." He thought apathetically and even mentally rolling his eyes until his vision cleared and he realised he was in a bed and that he hurt everywhere. He was confused for a moment as to where on Earth he could be before he remembered that he passed out in the Capsule Corp gardens and that Bulma had probably brought him in to rest. Boy he couldn't wait till those Saiyan regeneration tanks were completed, they'd really help right about now. At that thought he heard the hiss of a mechanical door opening. Bulma walked into the room and saw that Gohan was awake. She basically told Gohan, in short, that Vegeta had informed her of the entire situation and that he should be more cautious in who he gave second chances to.

Gohan chuckled at that but the mirth died as quickly as it came on and a confused angry look came over his face, "What do you mean Vegeta told you about it all!? You mean he saw it!?" Gohan damn near screamed at which Bulma chuckled momentarily before answering.

"Yeah. Vegeta also commented that you 'fought well for a rusty weakling'" she informed him, Gohan's face twisted into desperation to understand the situation.

"Why didn't he help me if he was there!" Gohan asked frantically only to be told by the source itself from the doorway.

"Tch, as if you needed my help. You dominated that fight." Vegeta remarked with a snort, which aggravated the younger fighter.

"Dominated? What about the horn through the shoulder and the massive death ball at the end?!" Gohan pointed out to which Vegeta snorted again, as Bulma remained intelligently quiet throughout this encounter, knowing better than to get between two grumpy Saiyans.

"Simple, those were mistakes. If you weren't so rusty I dare say that you wouldn't have been touched throughout that fight. You were superior loathe as I am to admit it. Maybe you aren't the lost cause of a warrior I thought you were." Vegeta said thoughtfully and slightly quieter. "Gohan, report here as often as you can a week for personal training with me, you will serve as a worthy punching bag." Vegeta instructed before turning to leave at Gohan's dutiful nod.

Gohan was about to relax back into his pillow when he heard a parting remark from the older Saiyan. "I told you the device was no match for Saiyan pride!" He yelled.

Gohan snorted at him but made no attempt to argue back, he simply leaned back in his bed before his eyes shot open, Gohan would have shot bolt upright in his bed if all the muscles in his body weren't torn apart due to the amount of power he stuffed into it earlier. "KRILLIN!" Gohan screamed, only for Bulma to put a hand on his forehead and making calming hushes at him.

"Krillin's going to be fine, that baddie messed him up pretty bad but he's better off than you are, 18 came by and helped him home." She explained slowly and quietly. Gohan exhaled in relief. He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them and locking eyes with his godmother. Bulma was taken back at how much emotion she could see in his normally cold eyes,

"Thanks Bulma" He said simply to her and she smiled gently at him. Gohan really was still Gohan deep down.

"You're a good kid Gohan." She told him before leaving him to rest.

 **The Next Day: Wednesday**

Gohan was at Capsule Corp training with Vegeta and already all of Capsule Corp was rocking with the shockwaves and explosions. It was obvious to anyone watching that while Gohan was more powerful, Vegeta was the more experienced and skilled fighter of the two. The Black-haired warriors traded blows on equal grounds, neither landing a blow that was not soon returned.

Gohan ducked a straight punch and tried to come back up with knee. Vegeta caught the knee in his palm and pushed it back down towards the ground. The Prince fired off a head kick that Gohan stopped with his forearm. The Ox Prince threw a punch back but it was stopped by Vegeta's palm. Gohan threw his other fist into Vegeta's free palm and then roared with intensity as a white Aura burst to life around him as he used his superior strength to push forward. Vegeta tried to stand his ground but soon his training boots were sliding backwards along the red-lit metal floor of the gravity room. The sliding became faster and smoother as Gohan gained momentum before Vegeta's feet left the ground and Gohan shot forward slamming Vegeta into the wall of the GR. The younger warrior pushed and pushed pressing the older Saiyan against the wall. Vegeta managed to slip his hands away inside of the grapple, causing Gohan's hands to smash the walls either side of Vegeta's head.

"Oh I bet you treat all the girls like this" Vegeta remarked with a smirk before gently laying his hands on Gohan's stomach, "Mistake number one brat!" He screamed before blasting Gohan at point blank range in his center mass. Gohan flew back and seemingly had his eyes squeezed shut in pain. Vegeta moved in to capitalise on his advantage however realised his mistake as right as he got close, Gohan's eyes opened and a smirk formed on his own expression. Gohan tucked backwards and bicycle kicked Vegeta in the chin launching him into the roof of the GR. He hit the roof hard and then fell and hit the ground with 20 times Earth's gravity pulling him down. Gohan landed on the foot he hadn't used to kick as he came out of the backflip. He was panting and seemed to be struggling but his smirk firmly remained, he had won. It brought a strange satisfaction knowing that after all those years he still had it.

Vegeta struggled back to his feet and spat out some blood before walking over to the artificial gravity generator and switched it off. He turned to Gohan and nodded, "Not bad brat, you beat me I admit but while you aren't as rusty as I thought you'd be its still obvious that your fighting instincts have yet to fully return." Vegeta told him calmly, walking out the door of the gravity room into the hallway beyond. He grabbed one of the towels and water bottles that were waiting for them there.

Confusion passed over Gohan's face as he followed the veteran fighter. "What do you mean, I managed to nail you with that backflip kick in a tough position didn't I?" He asked.

"You did" Vegeta admitted, "But that shows that you have a good technique and an adaptable combat style. These are both good things. However you're far too confident in yourself sometimes brat. You invested too much into that kick. What would have happened if you missed it?" He asked calmly, though it was obvious he was irritated that he had to explain it. Gohan said nothing as he thought about it picturing the fight's possible outcome if he were to have somehow missed the kick in a serious situation. Images of Cell catching him wide open and blasting him to oblivion flashed through his mind. Vegeta, satisfied that Gohan seemed to get the point. "Now, training is over, get lost kakabrat." Vegeta told him non-commitedly as he moved in the direction of the kitchen.

Without a word Gohan took off out the window, this time aiming his flight path to his apartment in Satan City, rather than his old home in the mountains. Gohan arrived at the window of his apartment's bedroom and flew right in rather than using the elevator as he normally did. He ate enough food to feed a village before heading off to clean all the sweat, grime and blood from his body. Just as he finished changing into fresh clothes he heard a knock at his door. Looking at the time he noted that it was now 5pm. Who in the world would be at his place at this time? He walked over to the door and opened it to see his classmates. More specifically his 3 classmates.

"Gohan!" They cried unanimously as he looked at them surprised. "Oh we've been coming here for a while now knocking on your door to check on you but you haven't been back until now. Must have been a shock to get all that homework huh?" Erasa said, running her mouth almost faster than Gohan could keep up with.

"Uhhh...homework?" Gohan said confusedly as he tried to remember getting a call or being told by someone about homework. "To be honest I have no idea what you're talking about." He said bluntly to her which gave Videl a confused and suspicious glare. She didn't say anything but she seemed to be listening intently to Gohan now and he couldn't fathom why.

"What do you mean what homework? Every time we checked and you weren't here we'd take it down to the front desk and this one employee told us he had been to your room before and that he'd give it to you as soon as you walked back through the lobby doors. A look of understanding passed over Gohan's face and he chuckled before replying, not really thinking about it.

"Well that explains it, I haven't been through those lobby doors even once in almost a week, I'll have to get it before it all starts piling-"

"What do you _mean_ you haven't been through those doors?" Videl questioned with a deceptively calm tone with an underlying hint of danger. "If you didn't come through the lobby doors how did you even get up to your room _Gohan_." She questioned and Gohan immediately knew he had made a terrible mistake.

 _"Shit..."_

Videl looked as if she'd press her advantage while Gohan was vulnerable and Gohan took a mental defensive stance, readying himself for the girls onslaught of interrogation.

"What does it matter, he's back and he seems okay!" Erasa cried enveloping the hardened warrior who just looked stuck between disgusted and resigned to his fate. "There, don't you feel better after a hug from a friend?"

"Not really" he muttered quietly but not quiet enough Erasa wouldn't have heard him, regardless if she heard it then she made no reaction or indication that she cared about his response in the slightest.

"So dude, when do you think you'll be back at school?" Sharpener asked, in his usual bored tone though Gohan could tell by his careful speech and his measured tone that he was trying to be considerate and polite, which Gohan appreciated from the seemingly self-centered teenager.

"I'm thinking about coming tomorrow. I feel I've given myself enough time, I don't want to fall behind on work at school." Gohan explained and received some raised eyebrows from his classmates. He was already coming back to school? But it hadn't even been a week and he had personally witnessed the death of his friend, she died in his arms for christ's sake! How can he not have some obvious and evident psychological damage? Or maybe he did and he just didn't realise it yet. Either way no one was prepared to question him about it because no doubt it would bring up painful memories or otherwise unpleasant trains of thought.

"Well okay then, we'll let you go then, I'll see you at school tomorrow Gohan." Sharpener said turning around and waving, as did Erasa with a goodbye. Videl stood there staring into Gohan's soul seemingly contemplating whether or not she should interrogate him before her harsh gaze softened and she smiled slightly at him.

"Take care of yourself Gohan, talk tomorrow." She said to him simply, before turning and walking off after her friends. At that moment Gohan released a breath he hadn't been aware he was holding. He watched them step back into the elevator and at the end of the hallway and nodded as they waved him goodbye as the doors closed. Gohan closed his apartment doors and walked towards his phone.

"Fucking humans..." He sighed, sounding exasperated but surprisingly, even almost endeared. He picked up the phone and dialled the lobby number, asking for his homework to be sent up to his apartment. The staff made a big deal about them not even seeing him coming in but he just waved them off and asked the books before swiftly hanging up. He planned to at least do most of the work before he went to bed.

 ***THE FOLLOWING MORNING - Thursday***

Gohan opened his window and shot out faster than any unfocused human being would really notice up into the sky where he was safe from being noticed. He now thought to himself that it may perhaps be smarter to travel around as a Super Saiyan in case someone saw him flying around and took a photo or something of the like. Now that he knew he could control that power he figured there was no real danger... Gohan grunted in discomfort, perhaps it was best to play it safe and forget about that for now. After all, his pride told him that the legendary form was not to be used for such trivial matters. Gohan's eyes widened as he realised how much his subconscious sounded like Vegeta.

With a shake of his head to dispel his pointless thoughts he shot off across the sky heading for school, he was easily going to be on time and so was in no real rush. As he neared the school he figured he would just walk to the school from an alley. He dropped down into one and walked out. The easy attitude of the crowd assured Gohan that no one had seen him, _damn_ he was good. Judging the distance between himself and the school building Gohan calculated that if he walked at a human pace he would make it to school in 10 minutes. He had 30 minutes to get to class so all was well. He began his trek and not 5 minutes later did he hear something alarming.

He heard the sound of gunfire not far from him as well as the screaming of civilians and the alarm of a building. Gohan growled to himself as people all around him continued on their way. He was the only one who could see it all. He turned back and nearly ran back to the alleyway he had come from before tossing his book bag behind a trash can. He pulled his shirt over his head and put it there too before he shouted and his hair shot straight up and burned a bright gold, his eyes lit up into a colourful teal and he shot off into the sky. He flew through the air unhindered by it as he moved faster than sound. He was there in a matter of seconds and stopped abruptly, as all the sound of his flight caught up to him the pressure disturbance waves radiated to the street below him, causing a loud boom and a shockwave to wash over the people knocking many over.

Gohan surveyed the scene and saw that a bunch of thugs were robbing a bank. "Tch, humans, they never learn." He remarked bitterly before dropping into the scene. A handful of the officers looked surprised at his appearance before screaming for him to get to cover and that it wasn't safe for him here. Videl had just arrived at the scene and was running forwards to the car where Gohan and the officers were about to admonish the guy for getting in her way. Eventually one of the reporters off to the side screamed in excitement.

"CAMERA MAN, FOCUS ON THE GOLD-HAIRED YOUTH THERE! I THINK THAT'S THE ONE WHO WAS ALL OVER THE NEWS FOR SAVING WEST CITY FROM AN ALIEN INVASION!" She squealed, eliciting gasps and wide eyes from everyone around them. This gave Videl pause and she looked in awe at the guy. She suddenly noticed that he was completely ripped with muscle and saw obvious signs of battle on him. There was a scar on his jaw running down his neck on the right side of and slightly above his adams apple. Then there was a scar that started on his collarbone above the front of his shoulder that got wider as it traveled to the beginning of his bicep where it widened into a jagged circular scar that then got thinner again down the outside of his bicep before tapering off to normal skin near his elbow on his left arm.

"Stand back everyone, I'll handle these guys." Gohan told the police before turning around and floating towards the banks front doors. Videl then saw there was a long thing scar across his back and on the back side of his left shoulder a jagged round scar was evident, Videl guessed that it was the exit wound of whatever happened to the front of his arm. Actually compared to the longer thinner scar the round scar looked very new and still slightly red. Videl remembered hearing on the news that in his fight with the aliens this gold-haired warrior had been bleeding from his arm and that he was in a bad way. But for a wound like they described to be already scarring was impossible.

A mental image of the destruction shown on the news flashed through her mind, maybe it wasn't so impossible after all if they could do stuff like that. She watched intently as this man approached the thugs. While she wasn't exactly keen to let someone take her job, she needed to see for herself what he was capable of. As she thought that, the shock factor seemed to wear off the thugs as apprehension at this potentially being the Gold Warrior began to shine through the surface like diamonds buried among dirt. "H-He's comin' right for us!" One of the criminals remarked in terror.

"Grr! We were just supposed to draw that Satan whore out and kill her! We didn't sign up for fighting super heroes! DUST THIS BITCH!" One screamed in panic and they all unloaded their weapons on the young hero while screaming, rockets and bullets flew into the dust cloud creating explosions. After they all ran out of ammo they paused, breathing heavily. The dust seemed to hang around for a few more moments before a golden flame swept it all away, revealing the unharmed Gohan, surrounded by a fiery yet liquid-looking aura. He did NOT look happy.

"I know your kind, the types who like to hurt others, to do harm for their own benefit, not thinking of the ramifications their actions have on those around them. From me its hypocrisy but I _hate_ people like you..." He ended with his voice dropping even lower and more dangerous towards the end of his sentence.

"Agh! He's...he's some kind of...of demon!" They screamed as they desperately tried to reload and continue attacking him. Gohan smirked at their description of him as he moved forward. He appeared before the one outside the door and allowed a few bullets to bounce harmlessly of his face and chest. He grabbed the goon's gun and crushed it into a ball of twisted metal. The man whimpered before throwing a wild punch at Gohan who merely slipped the blow and elbowed him in the chest in the same motion. The man 'oof'ed as he flew through the slightly open doors of the bank before sliding along the floor. Gohan waltzed into the bank and looked around at the thieves before phasing right up to the one standing at the window with the RPG. The man flinched and put the RPG infront of him to try to shield himself. Gohan brought his hand down like a knife and chopped the RPG in two, before spinning and back-kicking him in the gut, folding the man over his foot and knocking him out cold.

Gohan sensed one of them charging from behind him and, without facing his opponent, he ducked the hook before he stood up and caught the stumbling off-balance criminal by the back of his shirt before tossing him out the window onto the steps leading down from the bank. Gohan saw one of the men turn their machine gun on him. Gohan caught every bullet effortlessly before jerking his head aside to dodge the last one, all with a dead-pan expression on his face. Gohan backhanded the man into the teller's counter.

Meanwhile, the thug that had been thrown out onto the steps looked up as he regained consciousness and saw the crowd looking up at the bank in awe of the Gold-haired warriors might. In the crowd, right up the front was his original target, Videl Satan. He smirked as he reached for his handgun, tucked into his waistband.

Gohan had just kneed a goon in the chin, instantly putting him out like a light. The last man had panicked at seeing Gohan effortlessly dispose of their whole crew and made a break for the double glass doors of the bank. Just as the man left the doors Gohan appeared behind him, jumped and somersaulted over the man, tapping him on the neck as he passed by. **(A.N Think what that alien did to give Bardock the ability to see the future in the special)** Gohan landed calmly on his feet right in front of the man who stared through the Saiyan with unseeing eyes. The man dropped unconscious right before him.

Just then the last criminal, at the bottom of the steps, cocked his weapon and aimed it at Videl, "Gotcha bitch! EAT LEAD!" He screamed suddenly, getting up to his knee. Videl's eyes shot down to the man and saw that she was in his sights and could not dodge in time as the thug's finger closed around the trigger. She merely stared emptily as not even fear could process on her expression in time. Just as the gun was about to go off, a bright gold beam with the diameter of an orange passed through the man's chest, right where his heart should be. The wound had been cauterised by the intense heat of the blast and the burnt flesh around the edges smoked slightly as the man's eyes emptied of life and his expression died on his face, he dropped face forward onto the floor and Videl merely kept staring in confusion and terror. What had just happened to that guy? Was she already dead? What was happening. Slowly her eyes drifted up away from the smoking body to the Gold Warrior who was standing side-on on the steps with his index finger and thumb extended into a gun shape. There seemed to be a tiny golden shine at the very point of his index finger and Gohan slowly relaxed this hand and slowly dropped it back to his side.

"I apologise, I didn't want to kill him but I had no choice" Gohan's face was extremely solemn and he looked like he was having an internal war with himself in his head. "The others are unconscious inside...goodbye." he said quietly before launching up into the sky without another word. Videl stood in the same place as a million emotions rushed through her being. This guy had come out of nowhere and started interfering with her work. Granted he HAD fought off the alien invasion and judging by the carnage she guessed she could not have done that and neither could her father. That meant that this guy was extremely powerful. She felt fear that she had almost died but also she felt light at heart at having been saved, like some accursed damsel, by the golden-haired hero. Suddenly her eyes shot open faster than any bullet could have.

 _"A GOLDEN-HAIRED FIGHTER!"_ She thought, feeling like an idiot for not realising this sooner. _"JUST LIKE THOSE WARRIORS MY FATHER SAID HAD DIED AT THE CELL GAMES!"_ Her brain was on a roll now. She remembered her father coming back from the Cell games hurt and looking scared. He told her how no matter how much he could have trained before the Cell games, that all those fighters were on a whole other level, and even then they were no match for Cell. That is, except for the young boy who looked only 9 or 10. But that power apparently turned into his demise as their power struggle was stuck in the middle for so long that all of it gathered in the center of the clash and exploded, destroying them both.

 _"But he didn't look dead to me, just really scarred up"_ Videl thought with confusion. There was no way that kid was anyone BUT the Cell Games kid. So _somehow_ he had survived that explosion her father talked about. If that was what happened then he was totally and completely out of Videl's league of power. She thought she and her father were powerful but this warrior was ridiculous. But something seemed off with him, he seemed empty in the eyes, lonely. She remembered that it was a miracle he survived and it was likely that all his family and his father would be dead, leaving him to live with his survivors guilt, poor guy. Poor her too, as she found her mind drifting momentarily to his graceful movements, his perfect technique, all while shirtless. She huffed angrily at herself for daydreaming about a guy she just met, but she couldn't deny she had been lucky to catch a view like that.

 ***WITH GOHAN: Meanwhile***

Gohan landed back in the alley he had come from and pulled his baggy long sleeve shirt back over his head and grabbed his bag. He powered down to his base form and walked out. He had managed to handle that all in about 10-15 minutes. Meaning he still had time to get to school easily. He began the walk when he saw a familiar yellow jetcopter flying in his general direction. Obviously she had flown in the same direction as him trying to catch him. It seemed to stop a little bit before the alley he landed in and it hovered momentarily. Gohan raised an eyebrow at it in confusion. Why was she just floating there instead of going to school? As he thought that the copter started flying in the direction of the school. It passed over his head before slowing down again and lowering to the ground. _"What the hell?"_ Gohan thought to himself as she jumped out, spun and waved at him.

"Hey Gohan! Want a lift to school?" She asked kindly. Now don't get him wrong, Gohan thought Videl was nice, but that was just the reason he didn't want to sit in a confined space alone with her. She brought up some painful memories. But he didn't have it in him to decline her offer when she was so polite and seemed pleased to see him. He nodded and smiled back before approaching her, ignoring all the stares of the public at seeing their local hero land in the middle of the path, and said hello as he stepped up into the man-made machine. Videl lifted off with a smile on her face and once she was out of danger of crashing into something or someone, she allowed herself to unfocus slightly as she turned on autopilot.

"So, Gohan, you'd never believe who I saw this morning!" She said with excitement evident in her voice, she looked at him and gave him a once over, and her mental warning bells were set off when she saw the exact same pair of pants and shoes that the Cell Games boy had been wearing this morning. "I saw the..." She tapered off in her sentence, and Gohan raised a brow at her. He had an idea of what she was about to tell him but he had no idea what made her pause. She watched as she looked ahead thoughtfully. Meanwhile, Videl was noticing similarities. The guys voice this morning, she could swear it sounded very similar to Gohan's, only deeper and more raw. Then Gohan had similar eyes, only they looked livelier. Gohan's hair shape was even pretty much the same, only Black. They seemed to have a similar build. Her mind was racing at a million miles when she calmed herself down. _"Stop being ridiculous Videl. All you've proven is that they have SIMILAR features but with crucial differences. Yes Gohan's hair SHAPE was the same but the Warrior's hair was GLOWING GOLD. That's a big enough difference. The Warrior's features were sharper, manlier. He looked a little older than Gohan was. Plus there's no way Gohan could have a figure like that."_ She reasoned to herself calmly, getting a handle on her emotions, _"Still, just in case, I suppose it would be better not to tell him too much of what I know..."_ She decided internally. She looked back at Gohan and noticed his concerned expression so she smiled at him before apologising for spacing out on him like that.

She then continued to tell Gohan about the events of that morning without divulging her revelation on the identity of the hero in question, and Gohan was none the wiser as they made idle chatter and moved on to another day at school.

 _That's another chapter y'all. I have been absolutely murdered by school work as of late. Trying to balance my social life and doing school work doesn't leave a LOT of time to write but I make time. I feel that at this point I can divulge some information to you all. I eventually plan to cover the Buu Saga but it will likely be very different than it was in canon, and those differences will become extremely evident as they come. After Buu I will be covering material from Dragon Ball Super (the brand new series of Dragon Ball for those of you who don't know) and the movies. Though for Super I will mostly be sticking to the manga for details and feats of power. I will also likely incorporate ideas from Dragon ball multiverse but not many. Until next time then, and remember to review and tell me what you thought of the chapter or the story as a whole so far. Later._


	6. Chapter 6: Villains Don't Shut Up

Chapter 6: Villains Never Shut Up

It was Friday afternoon and Gohan had been invited to hang out with his friends after school. They were in the gym doing basic fitness and Gohan was doing the usual solitary body-weight exercises while everyone else did their own thing. A few times he almost forgot where he was and moved into hand-stand pushups but he always caught himself before his feet left the ground. He felt edgy, like he was itching for real exercise. He actually _wanted_ to fight. He hated to admit it but biologically speaking he was as good as a pure Saiyan. So he expected that once he started training again, he would awaken his battle lust. Of course he still knew that he far preferred peace to danger and he hoped that the world stayed permanently safe, but he would be lying if he said that his battle with Vrozan hadn't gotten his blood-pumping. Is this just a lesser version of what his father would feel constantly? Is this why his father wanted to fight and train all the time? If so Gohan could understand why his father had been the way he was, but only because of Goku's unique situation. Gohan would never skirt his responsibilities to fight, but that didn't mean he didn't wish he could at times.

After gym he made his way to the locker room and waited until everyone else had left. Slowly the other students filtered out and some gave him weird looks as he merely sat on a bench in silence as he waited. Eventually the locker room was completely empty except for Gohan and he began changing. He wished he didn't have anything to hide but between his scarred body and his "too-ripped-to-be-normal physique" he couldn't afford to be seen and visually examined by his peers. It was too dangerous. He paused right before he put his baggy long-sleeved shirt on. He studied his latest mark. He thought it was a strange coincidence that the horn of Vrozan had gone right through the center of his scar from Cell. The scar there used to be slightly rounder in the center before thinning out on either side. However Vrozan's horn had made a wider hole in his shoulder, making the previous impact point of Cell's attack hidden, or more pronounced depending on how you looked at it.

He pulled his shirt on before walking towards where he could sense his friends' Ki signatures. He had locked their Ki's into his memory recently as, besides Videl, they had very unexceptional Ki's and would be near impossible to find should they ever be in trouble. He found them and Videl and Erasa looked impatient and he was lectured by his friends for taking so long. Gohan expected Sharpener to jump in and tease him too but when he looked at the blonde-haired teen he only saw curiosity and concern on his face. Gohan wasn't sure if that was better or worse than him joining in. His gut told him that he needed to try to be more careful around his friends. They were starting to act weird around him and he wasn't sure why.

They went to get pizza first and when Gohan inhaled what looked like his body-weight in every pizza on the menu his friends merely cringed. "Gohan I will never understand how you do that" Videl began, turning her head away but still watching the Black-haired teen out of her peripherals, "It's both disgusting and impossible to look away from at the same time." She said as her upper lip pulled, brows furrowed and her eyes twisted in disgust.

He merely looked at her out the corner of his eyes, pausing only long enough to give her the shortest response possible. He shrugged his shoulders and made the one comment he always made when someone brought it up or asked him about it, "Genetic." He simply responded before taking in more food. Unbeknownst to his friends, the reason Gohan always gave that response about his appetite was because it's the only thing he could tell them that wasn't a lie at all. It was 100% honest and upfront he would tell himself but deep down he knew that technically he _was_ being dishonest by slipping past details in his answer like some politician or corrupt business man. But it was for the best that he keep what he was from them, at least for now. Gohan thought about that notion internally and what it implied, _"Maybe...one day I might tell them...we'll see I suppose."_ He thought to himself. He wasn't sure how truthful with himself he was being, but it felt better thinking about telling them about himself one day then it felt thinking that he'd have to hide forever and live a lie to his friends.

After they finished, or rather Gohan finished, their pizza they went to the arcade across from the pizza shop. They played a multitude of games together. Gohan dominated shooting games due to his superior reflexes. In fact, Gohan dominated them in a lot of games and his friends looked surprised when he told them he had never even been in an arcade before in his whole life. At their expressions he knew he had made some kind of mistake but then suddenly Videl brushed it off and made a joke about Gohan just having nerd in his veins. The Saiyan chuckled at her remark and they moved on to another game. He found himself struggling in a game about fighting however, as regardless of how good his reflexes were and his far better combat strategy, he did not know the controls properly and they confused him to be honest. He put up a decent few fights and eventually managed to learn the controls well enough to beat Erasa and Sharpener but no matter how much he tried he could not beat Videl.

"How can you be this good!?" He asked as he made a panic block and barely managed to defend against his opponents attack. Videl merely smirked as she got Gohan in a grab move, hitting him with a combo before tossing him to the other side of the screen.

"No natural talent for video games and a single day of playing is going to make you better than me Gohan!" She taunted with a fire in her eyes as she beat him yet again. She turned smiling smugly to Gohan who was looking at her surprised.

"You play video games?" Gohan said with a wide-eyed expression. She roller her eyes at him.

"Not video games, just fighting games really. They aren't as good as the real thing but they definitely help when I'm sick or injured." She explained before narrowing her eyes at him, "What? You think a girl can't enjoy stuff like that?" She said accusingly to the boy who merely lazily held his hands up in a sign of defense.

"Hey, I didn't say that. I just never picked you as the type who would enjoy stuff like that is all. I guess I should have guessed though based on all the other things you have in common with him..." He said cryptically, seemingly saying the last part more to himself than her based on the fact that he looked down at the floor thoughtfully.

"In common? Me? Who are you talking about?" Videl asked. Sharpener and Erasa, who were standing behind Gohan on the opposite side of him from Videl, wisely chose this moment to become extremely quiet. Gohan looked up at her surprised. It was obvious he didn't realise he had said it out loud and didn't expect to be questioned about it.

Gohan was about to tell them it was no one and not to worry about it but he saw no reason to keep this from his friends. It wasn't like that secret would bring his whole world and web of lies down on top of him. "Oh uh...just, you remind me a lot of my father..." He admitted quietly while not making eye contact with anyone. But Videl and the blonde's had still heard him and Videl looked confused at why he seemed to hesitant to say something as simple as that until she remembered being at his house and not seeing his father anywhere. Her eyes widened as she connected the dots. Now the fact that Gohan could remember what his father was like but he spoke of him in a positive way, hinted to Videl that he probably hadn't left him, as a boy who could remember details about his father who left generally had a bad view of them. Videl didn't want to assume anything but Gohan's introvertive nature and his inability to understand expression of emotions, plus the way he spoke of his father, indicated to her that Gohan's father was no longer alive.

Now she didn't want to pry too much as if she really reminded Gohan of his father in as many ways as he had implied it stood to reason he had thought this way for a while. Meaning that he may have only just made the decision to reveal this bit of information. If she pushed him he could close up more than he had before. So she decided to try very neutrally and without sounding like she was interrogating him. "Gohan, the way you said that, I also noticed that your dad wasn't at your house and that you never talk about him...is-" she began but Gohan preempted her and responded.

"My father is dead..." Gohan said quietly still not looking at anyone and rather staring into space off to his side. Videl's eyes softened further and her heart clenched as she realised she was correct. She heard Erasa gasp in shock and saw her cover her mouth with her hand. Her face a visage of total shock and disbelief. Videl could almost sense her thinking 'Poor Gohan' from here. Hopefully she wouldn't say anything out loud about it. Especially anything that might make Gohan feel any worse than he must already. Thankfully it seemed Erasa could read Videl's mind too as she didn't say a word.

"I'm sorry I-" but for the second time today Gohan interrupted her, he had a hard look to his eyes and a slight scowl pulled over his face. Videl could tell the scowl wasn't at her for asking, she felt no anger or malice from the much taller teenager. But he was scowling nonetheless, probably at himself for showing weakness in front of people.

"It's fine" the father-less teen said in a tone of finality, as if to say that this conversation was over. But then he spoke again, his voice and features much softer this time, "It happened...a long time ago..." Gohan told them reassuringly before plastering a smile on his face that was only half legitimate, "Let's just enjoy the now alright? I don't really want to talk about it." He said politely and reasonably, seemingly with a level of control over his emotions now.

"Of course" Sharpener said, once again showcasing that he actually knew how to be sensitive to the feelings and wishes of others. Erasa nodded similarly and so did Videl.

"Yeah, let's just go enjoy one more-" but at that Videl heard a ringing from her watch. Her face immediately turned serious from happy. She pressed a button on the strange looking watch and a little screen opened up on it. "What is it captain?" She asked the watch.

"Videl! We have a situation of about a dozen criminals holding the mayor hostage. It appears that they are scarcely armed with real weapons and so we pushed them back to the building and surrounded them. However one man has an RPG and threatened to fire into the line of cars if we so much as moved from where we are. We need someone who can sneak in and deal with them at close-quarters. We tried your father but he is currently unreachable. Please hurry and help if you can!" The Police Captain urged of her.

"On my way!" She said dutifully before hanging up on her watch, she looked up at her friends apologetically, "Sorry guys gotta cut it short today! Police emergency!" She told them incase they hadn't heard what was being said. At that she bolted out the arcade for the exit of the store. Gohan knew that these were suspicious circumstances. Why would they be so lightly armed if they were capable of getting their hands on an RPG. And why did they just stay in the room like that after capturing the mayor. They had made no demands, no attempt to escape. Its almost like they were waiting for-

 _"Shit."_ Gohan thought, before beginning to walk as unsuspiciously as he was capable of. "Sorry you two but it's about time for me to be leaving anyway. Continue on without me if you want but I gotta start heading to my apartment. I have family coming over to visit." Gohan lied somewhat smoothly as it was easier when he didn't have to look them in the eye when he did it. They waved and said goodbye to him and as soon as he was out the store he began running, looking for the closest alley. It took him about 15 to find an alleyway he could actually use to stay hidden from the public bustling about on the pathways and such. He pulled off his shirt and dropped his bag beside him before turning Super Saiyan again. He shot up out of the alleyway high into the sky before reaching out with his Ki for Videl's signature. Once he found the crime-fighter among the hundreds of thousands of Ki's in her direction he zeroed in on it. Her Ki felt strange, as if she was on high alert, but she wasn't in battle yet as it was not fluctuating. Gohan figured that she must be sneaking around right now trying to find a way in. At Mach 4 Gohan soared right for the block she was at and made it in roughly 15 seconds. This hadn't been that far away at all, since it took Videl so long to get here and her jetcopter was capable of moving over half the speed of sound Gohan thought it would have been further away.

Then again, she would have to fly quite a lot slower since she was in a contraption made by man and so she didn't have full control over herself. With all the tall buildings around that probably isn't safe. Due to his ridiculous speed it took quite a while for the sound to catch up. When it did, once again the explosion from his breaking of the sound barrier caught up and everyone heard the bang and his sudden stop from that speed caused a rush of wind to blow through the area. Blowing police hats away and pulling at people's clothing. Gohan dropped down to where the Police officers were to offer them his help.

"I-it's you! The gold-haired superhero!" The officer managed to stammer out to Gohan who merely smiled gently at him. The captain wasn't quite sure how to feel about this guy. He HAD killed a criminal yesterday, and though he did it to save Videl, he wasn't authorised to do something like that. He wasn't a cop, he was just a Vigilante and killing a criminal - even when in the defense of an innocent - was illegal and grounds for arrest. But he definitely wasn't going to be the one to tell him.

"Yeah it's me, I'm here to help. Where's Videl?" Gohan asked

 ***WITH VIDEL: Meanwhile***

The short raven-haired girl worked her way around the building and heard the resounding boom of that superhero arriving. She scowled slightly, she didn't really need this help and while she wanted to talk to him, she really didn't want him interrupting her fight. With the possibility of him coming to help her any moment, Videl knew she needed to move fast. She peeked up over the wall into an open window and saw that there had been a guard at this window but he was facing away now as they were all focusing towards the front of the building at the sonic boom and chattering about what the sound had been.

She monkey-vaulted the windowsill silently, sitting herself on it with her hands placed firmly on it either side of her. She pushed herself up and shot her legs out before wrapping them around the window guard's throat and mouth. Leaning back out the window as far as she could she arched her back and placed her hands on the ground outside before rolling her whole body out with all her force, pulling the man out the building and throwing him over her onto the ground face-first. She just sat on the back of his neck with her legs wrapped around his throat until he fell unconscious. She stood up and, with all the grace of a cat, jumped into the building and landed, immediately going low. The next closest guy was about 10 feet ahead of her and was starting to turn around, as were a few others. They would see Videl any moment now. But the daughter of Mr Satan was determined to take full advantage of the element of surprise she held and take down at least one more guy. Staying low she bolted at the closest guy who saw her out his peripherals as he slowly turned around to face her. His eyes widened and videl sprang up to his head height, did a full spin before nailing the guy full force in the side of the head with her boot.

The criminal went sprawling across the ground, unconscious before he even hit the floor. By now everyone in the building had seen her and they were charging at her. Here was her advantage. Naturally some of the thugs were more nimble or faster than others so they would not all reach her at the same time. She ducked the punch of the first one to reach her, a thinner man of average height, she jumped up and kneed him in the stomach. He backed off momentarily as the second one, who had a similar build to the first only taller, reached the fight and threw a surprisingly clean kick at her. She stopped the kick with her forearms before launching forward and nailing him with an uppercut followed by a haymaker. She heard the crack of her fist - which was reinforced at the knuckles and padded everywhere else by gloves - against his skull as the man lost consciousness. The first guy had recovered by now and a third one had almost closed in. She slipped a jab from the first goon before kicking him on the inner thigh, near his knee. The man was buckled by this and could do nothing against the front kick that planted itself toe-first into his jaw, knocking him off his feet from the force. He was in a lot of pain and could not continue fighting just yet.

The third guy was quite large but due to his long legs, made his way close to the front of the pack. Videl was very careful to dodge and block any direct attacks as she knew that if one hit her she could be knocked out instantly. She swayed back from a spinning kick and dived to the side to avoid a big punch. As she recovered from her roll she noticed the fourth assailant had reached her and was coming up behind her. The big guy was already upon her winding up for another swing so all she did was side-step it, twisting her body to get the extra few inches to be sure she was not touched at all. And she watched the punch hit the fourth man directly in the face, breaking his nose and knocking him off his feet where he hit the ground head first. Videl cartwheeled away from the big guy who looked extremely confused as to what had actually happened.

It was then that one of the other criminals charged Videl and started shooting off punches and kicks. Videl slipped the jab and ducked the hook. The man went for a leg sweep but Videl was slightly faster and sprung from her crouched position backwards before landing on her hands and gracefully swinging her legs back beneath her. She jumped forward with a smirk on her face as she swung a leg at the still low man. However to her utter surprise he lifted his forearm and blocked her kick. She made a sound of surprise as he retaliated, capitalising on her distraction and ramming his opposite shoulder into her gut, winding her and knocking her backwards in mid-air. She hit the ground and managed to roll backwards over her shoulder onto her feet, stumbling back slightly as she had more momentum than she calculated.

The man charged her again and she attacked with a knee to the stomach. Her right knee merely met his left palm only inches from his stomach. He tried to throw a wide right elbow but her left hand moved up and caught the offending elbow. They pushed off from eachother.

 ***With Gohan: Meanwhile***

Gohan merely looked at the bank as he felt Videl's Ki spiking. She had been fighting 12 men in there and by the look of it, at least 3 were out of commission. Gohan turned his attention back to the police captain. Gohan had been about to ignore him and go in right after Videl, not needing a sitrep. But he had stopped when the man told Gohan that they were all unarmed except for one RPG which was for crowd control. Now why would they attempt to kidnap the mayor without weaponry. _"Unless they're exceptional fighters..."_ Gohan thought to himself more as an afterthought then anything. He noted that they all had quite high Ki's as far as normal humans went. Some were even on Videl's level, but even that wouldn't be enough. Gohan knew he was missing something and the young Super hero didn't like it one bit. He felt something very off about this all and he sensed something. Not a Ki signature. A...presence. His instincts were trying to warn him about something and he didn't know what.

She was slightly winded but knew that she still had more than enough energy in her to take these criminals. Or at least she hoped so. As she blocked a straight punch with her lower forearm and attempted to counter only to be dodged and kicked at, forcing her to leap away from her opponent, she began to think that there had been a reason they were all unarmed and chose to only fight her in hand-to-hand combat. Because they were _good,_ and as much as she hated to admit it, she actually probably wouldn't be capable of beating them all if the rest were at least close to the guy. At that thought someone new stepped in from the shadows. She wasn't quite sure where he came from, she hadn't seen him from before. Videl was frustrated by this and slightly concerned. _"Fuck, just what I needed..."_ She thought. She was still fighting fairly evenly with the other guy but she knew she had the advantage over him. Videl made a habit of never going all out on criminals lest she hurt them too bad and be accused of police brutality.

Videl started fighting harder than she already was and noticed the immediate change in the direction of this fight. She threw a kick with her full force and the man blocked it still but was knocked off balance by the force. He staggered and a look of alarm passed over his face as he realised she hadn't been fighting at full capacity. He managed to block the next punch, but she was much faster and more powerful now. A leg kick slipped past his notice and it buckled him. Videl tried to press the advantage by leaping up to his head-height and throwing a dangerous knee at his jaw. The man twisted his head away from it and felt the knee graze his ear. He backed off and threw a punch that she deflected and countered by ramming her fist into his gut. He was winded and needed to get some space, he rolled back out of her range.

The figure from the shadows stepped forward into full view and Videl was shocked to see such a person. He was quite tall and obviously broad shouldered. He had Black hair pulled back into a braided ponytail and he had a mustache. He had a black long-sleeved Chinese style outfit with a pink tabard over the top that said 'kill you' along the back and he had the unconcious mayor underneath his arm. There was something very wrong about his eyes, he felt...wrong. Lifeless... He clapped at her performance with a mirthless grin. "You fight quite well Satan girl. However I regret to inform you that were you to defeat that fighter, all the others are either just as good or better than he is."

"No way! You're bluffing!" Videl declared with a hint of uncertainty in her tone that made the newcomer's sick grin stretch wider across his pale lips.

"I assure you that I am not bluffing, and even if you were to defeat them all, then you'd be faced with fighting me. And I assure you that is not a fight you would walk away from." The fighter implied with a tone that made Videl's skin pale at the sound. She steeled her nerve however and pressed for information.

"Well it's obvious that you aren't here for the mayor, you could have escaped by now, assuming what you say is true. Who are you and what do you want?" Videl asked of them, keeping an eye on the henchmen to be sure they weren't sneaking around her while the leader distracted her. Sure enough the henchman simply stood exactly where he had been when the leader walked out.

"Ahhh, the question I was hoping you would ask me. My name, miss Satan, is mercenary Tao. I am an assassin, trained in the ancient Crane Style of Martial Arts. And what I want is more complicated. I was trying to draw your father out but he isn't currently in the city and so instead I must settle on using you as bait when he returns. What I want is to defeat the strongest fighter on the planet and claim title of strongest on the planet. Surely he will come immediately when he finds out that his little girl is in danger." The man, now known as Tao, explained to her methodically and with little emotion in his voice.

"Well then why didn't you take me down immediately, instead of letting me fight and defeat your men?" She asked with suspicion. The man merely chuckled at her.

"I merely wanted to see the full extent of your power. And I am now sure that I can defeat you in one on one combat." Tao boasted, turning his back on her. Videl bristled at that remark.

"Oh yeah? How about you prove it!? Without the help of your lackeys!" Videl taunted the man, itching to punch this guy in the face. He stopped and stood still for a moment before turning back around to face Videl.

"Very well girl, let me see if my scanners were correct shall we?" He asked with a smirk on his face as he fell into a fighting stance. Videl wanted to ask what he meant by 'scanners' but was interrupted and forced to put the question aside in favour of fighting back when Tao charged her. She rolled to the side avoiding his charge. As he landed off behind her Videl spun around and leapt twisting her body into a mid-air side-kick. Tao side-stepped the kick and attempted to grab her leg. She barrel-rolled horizontally and Tao was forced to let go of her leg. Videl landed on her hands and knees and rolled on her side away from the axe-kick Tao launched at her. She got to her feet and looked in shock as he had buried his foot knee deep in the floor of the building. Videl had seen her father do stuff like that before but still, it meant that this guy may not be bluffing about his skill as a fighter.

Videl took advantage of his predicament and threw her body weight into a huge desperate superman punch to his jaw that knocked him backwards, the force enough to knock him back and pull his leg from the rubble. She knew this could get very bad very quickly if she didn't take him down. He flew backwards through the air and she shot after him, urgently needing to take him down, she caught up and was directly underneath the flying assassin. She jumped and then flipped upside down in mid-air and kicked upwards, hitting Tao in the back, sending him flying straight up. She watched as Tao soared up and slammed into the ceiling, going upwards to the next floor of the building. Videl saw Tao smash through the next ceiling through to the next floor above before hitting the ceiling of the next floor still. He didn't go through this one however and fell back down a few feet away from his entry point through the ceilings and fell through them yet again before coming back through to her level and smashing into the receptionist's desk and going through it to the hard floor. There was a mess of dust from the crushed marble floor and splintered wood from the desk everywhere. She relaxed and Videl felt tired for some reason. Like she had somehow exerted all of her energy in one attack. She had accomplished things she wasn't aware she could do. But it was done, the gold fighter would be here in a moment to help her with the stragglers.

But then there was movement. Videl caught it in her peripherals as she was about to turn around and lo-and-behold the mercenary was getting back to his feet. "But! But that's impossible! After something like that you should be cut up and broken! How can you even be conscious!?" Videl questioned out loud, though she wasn't quite expecting an answer as she was still trying to move past the fact that he had somehow got back to his feet, ready to keep fighting no less, even after that murderous onslaught Videl just pummeled him with. Now panic began to set in as she realised that Tao had not been bluffing. If an attack like that couldn't bring him down then nothing would.

Tao appeared in front of her like a horrible vision, fading into reality right before her eyes. She hadn't even seen the man move. She felt a fist embed itself into her stomach before she was hit in the temple by the top of a foot. She flew to the side and rolled, managing to get her feet under her. She blocked a karate chop aimed at her neck by catching his attack by the wrist. But before she could even attempt a counter she was kneed in the chin. This made her back up a bit, dazed. Tao leapt forward and she ducked a spinning kick to the face before rolling back to gain more distance but as she got back to her feet Tao wasn't infront of her. An elbow hit her in the center of her back and she flew forward and smashed into a wall, cracking it and causing bits of drywall to fall to the ground in flakes.

She struggled to her feet and turned her back to the wall, using it to support herself. She stumbled forward to meet Tao and blocked the first jab before deflecting a cross to her side with her free hand. Tao threw an arching elbow that she ducked and attempted to counter with an uppercut but Tao swayed back avoiding the blow before throwing a leg kick. Videl checked the blow to her leg so that she didn't buckle and took all the force out of it but couldn't defend against the lightning quick straight to her left cheek. She slipped the next punch before throwing a hook of her own that was ducked by Tao, who retaliated by placing a well timed elbow to Videl's solar plexus, knocking the wind out of her. She began to fold inwards from the blow but Tao kicked her out the front doors of the building. Before she hit the ground however Tao caught her by the front of her shirt, suspending her in the air.

"Now, Satan girl, the world shall see you beaten and your father will come running to save y-."

"I wouldn't be so sure asshole." Gohan cut in, hair blazing gold and teal eyes full of silent hatred. Tao looked at him in confusion before a smirk came over his features. Tao tossed the barely conscious Videl back inside the building where she hit the ground and slid along it until coming to a complete stop. At that the assassin returned his attention to Gohan.

"So the son of Goku are we? Good, I can finally pay him back for what he did to me all those years ago." Tao remarked with a smugness that told Gohan he thought he had the advantage in knowing that information.

"Enough egotistical blabber Tao. I heard the stories about you, you were a horrible murderer OF whoever FOR whoever provided the right amount of money. People like you are the scum of the Earth. Or rather ex-people should I say?" Gohan added on with a smug smile of his own that had Tao reeling in shock. How could this boy know?

"Brat! How could yo-"

"How could I know that you aren't human? Simple, you think you're a great and powerful fighter, especially now that you're far stronger than you ever were but you're still ignorant to the abilities of a true warrior. Your body gave off no Ki signature. You think you know what strength is? Tao, I will show you strength..." Gohan, after cutting the cyborg man off for the second time, threatened with a dark tone to his voice as his eyes narrowed from dull anger to disguised killing intent.

"Pah! You're all talk boy! With my new implants that I took from the remains of Gero's lab I am exactly equal to the creature who walked the cities absorbing people for their life energy! Mind you this was a creature made to be stronger than the cyborgs who were built powerful enough to eliminate Goku! What chance does a boy like you have!?" Tao rattled off, throwing what he thought were intimidating facts, like they were bullets from a machine gun, "I will not-"

"Silence Tao." Gohan remarked abruptly, "I'm sick of you villain types and all your maniacal self-praising monologues." He spat sharply, words caustic as acid to Tao's pride. At that Gohan shot inside the building straight past Tao right as his remaining men were all in a circle around the crouched and beaten Videl. He kicked one of them in the cheek as he approached, landing perfectly in the position the man had been previously occupying.

"About...time you sh-rgh-showed up..." Videl wheezed out, but underneath her defiance Gohan could see well-hidden relief at his arrival, as well as hope. Gohan merely nodded at her with a softened gaze before turning to the stunned men who just seemed to process what had just happened. Right as they moved to react Gohan threw a pinpointed elbow strike to the neck of the thug on his right before turning his upper body to face the one on his left and striking him just under the jaw with two fingers, dropping them both effortlessly. Videl's eyes widened and she gasped at the ease with which he dealt with these men who were all at least as strong as she was.

 _"There's no way this can be real! Tao must have been overestimating his men because if they were all about as strong or more so then I am, then there's no way this guy could defeat them all so easily!"_ Videl thought with utter shock and denial before a mental image of the destruction in West City came to her mind, _"...maybe not I guess..."_ She thought dejectedly at how outclassed she appeared to be.

Gohan easily slipped a right cross before, like a shadow on ice, smoothly and simply chopped the man on the unguarded side of his neck and she watched as his eyes rolled back and his body went limp. Another threw a kick at him from behind and he did little more then move to the side and catch the kick under his arm before throwing an elbow back that hit his offender in the center of his forehead, dropping him like a sack of potatoes. In a similar fashion Gohan evaded and incapacitated the last of Tao's men, leaving the assassin himself with wide eyes and an expression of disbelief.

Gohan's eyes flashed dangerously as he looked Cell in the eye, beginning a slow but steady approach towards the now mostly robotic assassin, his every step cracking the ground beneath him with the sheer mass of his energy. "It's really cute that you think that being as powerful as the version of Cell that absorbed citizens is an achievement." Gohan said casually, almost as if he were making idle chatter, but contrary to appearances loose rubble and light objects began to disobey gravity and slowly rise, and the epicenter of the anomaly seemed to be where Gohan was walking, "But enough talk, I don't plan on giving you the time of day to explain how royally fucked you are..."

 **And that's a wrap yet again. This chapter was a lot quicker to write. I am very quickly nearing the end of highschool so I'm almost done all my assignments and exams and whatnot. Which will give me an exponential increase of free time with which I can write more. Sound good? Now there were a couple of reviews that were asking questions so I'll attempt to answer them here.**

 **DeinonychusL: Very observant of you. Won't say too much about this but suffice to say that this is a very different story then the one we know from the actual DBZ series. It'll be explained more in depth as time goes on.**

 **Anonymous: You are correct that Dende in the anime already had the knowledge on how to create Dragonballs but this is an AU, and it wouldn't be very dramatic if they could simply use the Dragonballs at every turn. So to solve this I changed some things about how Senzu Beans and Dragonballs work in this fic but they will be explained with time. But for a short answer about Piccolo not just being given a Senzu, the main issue for him personally is that as a Namekian, it is stated that he does not eat food. He only has to consume water to live. Yes in some filler episodes they have him being implied to eat food with Goku and his family but those were filler episodes not written by Toriyama alone. So technically senzu beans should never have worked on Piccolo since he doesn't have the same digestive system as we do as it is made only for water and not solids. So I have come up with a solution to how this will be dealt with later but for now Senzu beans are a no go for Piccolo. Also without Goku around none of them have anyway of contacting King Kai. Also I made the hierarchy system much more strict in this. You will see more as it goes on but basically Kai's aren't really allowed to communicate with mortals except in dire circumstances. And none of them know how to use instant transmission anyway so even if they were to find a way to communicate with King Kai and find New Namek there would be no conceivable way for them to get there due to how mindbogglingly far away it is. Also about Piccolo's healing factor, in the manga it was stated that Piccolo could only regenerate if the organ in his brain that allowed him to heal was in good condition. As I explained earlier that organ was damaged in the fight with Cell and so his body is taking much longer than normal to heal itself. Thanks for the review as I enjoy explaining and talking about the technical parts of the show.**


	7. Chapter 7: Plot to kill Videl

Tao wasted no time charging Gohan to attack him, with a heavy chop aimed at the Super Saiyan's neck he flung his arm in offense. Gohan caught his attack at the wrist and stared with a cold anger right into Tao's eyes before whipping his arm to the side and tossing Tao through the sky. Gohan pushed off after the airborne cyborg. He quickly caught him and hit him with a devastating combo. A right cross to the jaw followed by a left knee to the solar plexus, a right uppercut elbow to the chin and roundhouse to the ribs that had the assassin careening through the sky. With a blast of his Ki Gohan quickly caught up to Tao and flew evenly just above him before hitting Tao with a spinning backhanded slap that threw the criminal back towards the mayor's building. He hit the ground hard at the top of the steps, creating a crater with a slightly deeper hole in the shape of his body in the center. Gohan landed just ahead of the line of Police cars with his back to them as the people there gawked at him. Gohan started walking up the steps. Tao's hand emerged and gripped the Earth above him, struggling to pull himself up out the rubble he was in. His head emerged and showed that he was bleeding - or was that oil? - from multiple places on his face. Gohan passed him up completely and walked up to the injured Videl.

Gohan bent down to her level and helped her to her feet. He put an arm around her waist and looped one of her arms around his shoulders to support her. He floated steadily to prevent jolting her or causing further damage, towards the line of police cars. When he was almost there however he felt an uneasy feeling and out of paranoia turned to look back at Tao and saw him with his left arm pulled off from halfway up the forearm and what looked like a cannon inside. Gohan's eyes widened when he felt the intensity of Ki gathering within the Ki-less space that Tao's arm took up. _"Shit."_ Gohan thought right as the beam was fired at him.

"DODONPA!" Tao bellowed, letting loose the bright yellow tunnel of light. Gohan saw it coming and knew that if he dodged it, there would be massive property damage and possible innocents being injured, but on the other hand if he didn't dodge it Videl would be completely vaporised, and in his position there was no chance of putting up a Ki field, he was too panicked to focus his Ki. Gohan growled, _"DAMMIT!"_ He screamed internally and bared his teeth in anger at being trapped and then threw himself to the side and watched as the beam passed by and put a beach ball sized hole straight through a building before shooting off into the distance, due to the angle it was fired on it rose as it travelled and just as it reached another building it had risen enough to go over it and off into the distance where it hit a mountain and exploded. The force and speed of the blast however had caused a massive wind tunnel in the direction the blast headed, tearing street signs and bits of brick, mortar and concrete from the buildings around it and throwing them around. Cars were picked up and thrown and people were swept off their feet.

Gohan got back to his feet with a now unconscious Videl in his arms. He looked her over concerned but concentrated back on Tao once he was assured that the girl in his arms was okay. So it turned out that Tao was extremely durable, although Gohan far outclassed him in terms of speed and power. So he just had to pull his punches less is all. With a burst of Ki springing to life around his form, Gohan lunged at Tao kicking him with enough force to shake the surrounding buildings. Tao was launched into the sky and Gohan jumped after him. He caught up and Tao had just thrown an axe kick at Gohan's head. Gohan floated to the side to dodge it before his hand shot out lightning fast and grabbed Tao by the throat. Gohan rocketed his elbow into the top of Tao's skull and let him fly down into the ground. Gohan slowly floated down to the ground as Tao emerged from the rubble and stood back up looking a little worse for wear. Gohan swiftly ghosted into attack range and Tao reacted with lightning fast strikes that Gohan easily slipped and avoided. He deflected a sharp kick, twisting his body and shoving the leg away and to his right, simultaneously using his momentum to spin and plant his heel in Tao's chest. Tao was knocked flat on his ass by the blow and lay there, damaged terribly and haf multiple failing systems.

 _"This...this can't be...he's so...powerful!"_ Tao thought, now beginning to realise what such as huge mistake he had made as Gohan slowly walked to his prone form. Gohan merely looked down at the cyborg with disgust and apathy before he swung his leg forward and upward in an arc, kicking Tao into the air just in front of the Saiyan. Time seemed to slow for Tao as he saw the silent rage, hidden beneath the surface, the raw power that now seemed to change the air around them. A power so large it made Tao's mechanical parts vibrate and his skin feel clammy. Gohan stared back coldly into Tao's eyes for what seemed like an eternity but was, in actuality, only an instant, before the Saiyan warrior swung his arm downward at Tao's waist, completely chopping the cyborg assailant in half.

The people in the crowd gasped and the Police officers winced and recoiled. Someone in the crowd was heard throwing up at the sight of blood/oil splashing out onto the ground as both halves of Tao lay on the ground. Gohan grasped the top half and flew up into the air above the city. Sparking sounds and mechanical whirs and hisses sounded out as Tao grunted and groaned. Gohan pulled him up to eye level. "Game over." He uttered with a deep, eerie rasp to his tone, before throwing Tao as hard as he could to a distant mountain and then forming a Ki blast the size of a basketball in his hand and throwing it like a baseball right after the soaring cyborg. He waited as the two objects grew smaller as they flew in the distance before there was a moment of silence, followed immediately by sizeable explosion. Gohan nodded in satisfaction before floating back down to the crowd of people who were looking at him in fear and awe. He looked down at the still twitching legs of Tao and held his hand out, palm-first, before vaporising the bottom half into nothing but scorched concrete and ash.

 _"God I hate androids."_ Gohan thought with distaste before turning back to Videl. She was starting to come back to the waking world and Gohan crouched at her side. He picked her up and walked over to a police car, sitting her up on it before beckoning for medics to check her out. The medics quickly and efficiently did their check up on Videl and found that she had a few cracked ribs, bruised muscles and exhaustion but was otherwise unharmed. Gohan let out a long sigh of relief at hearing that. The medics were somewhat concerned about how such rapid exhaustion could have taken place but the Saiyan youth understood perfectly, he had sensed it earlier. _"Videl unknowingly tapped into her Ki reserves in a moment of desperation. It was likely her first time doing such a thing so its no wonder if that she's completely exhausted, but she'll recover."_ He thought to himself with a sense of calm, glad that this ordeal was finally over. Gohan turned to leave when he was called back.

"Wait! What…happened to…T-Tao?" Videl asked as she was loaded onto a stretcher by medics and had her wounds nursed. Gohan smiled in an expression he hoped was comforting to the girl.

"Tao is gone, I…destroyed him." Gohan told her, looking away in shame of himself and his actions.

"Destroyed? Look I know you are just doing what you think is necessary to protect the city, trust me I get that, but you can't just kill every criminal you come across like the judge jury and executioner." She reprimanded with an air of lawful duty to her tone, "We have a system here and you aren't even a real officer." She told him, which further made Gohan feel worse about himself and his fists clenched in frustration at his own recklessness. Videl's "people sense" as Erasa called it, was telling her that she didn't need to say anymore and that he still detested himself for killing that normal criminal the other day.

Videl looked at him, like REALLY looked at him, on a more than physical level. The gentleness of his mannerisms, how naturally quiet and polite he was. She knew he was on a level to which probably no one could match, and she got the impression that what she had seen was only the tip of the iceberg. He could probably go on a rampage and destroy everything and everyone without consequence. He could decimate towns and ravage the Earth with his power. And yet he chose to restrain it all to help these normal people, some of whom thought he was a nuisance and freak. This Super powerful being was also a good man who just wanted to make the world a safer place for the innocent.

She actually felt a twinge of guilt for making him feel bad about himself even more than he already did and so, swallowing her pride for the good of humanity, she decided she should try positive reinforcement so he didn't quit crime fighting entirely. She sighed heavily and put a hand on his shoulder, "I'm sorry, I doubt you do it to purposely put yourself above the law. I didn't need your help, but thank you for protecting the people." she told him, trying to sound grateful. The smile that lit up his face was almost worth the humility and care she was forced to display in public.

Gohan's smile lessened into a more content grin as he gazed up at the heavens, "Lime, Dad, I'm finally doing right by you…" he thought silently in the private recesses of his mind. After all, if he said Lime's name out loud Videl might get an idea about who he really was. Oh he had no idea. He looked back to Videl and gave her a simple nod before making a slight waving motion as if to say goodbye, he went to turn again but once again he was stopped, this time by Paparazzi.

"Sir! Who are you?" "whats your name?" "why do you insist on interrupting in crime fighting?" "are you aware you can be considered a vigilante?" "Do you purposely get in Videl's way to try to belittle her?" The questions flew faster than Cell could punch and Gohan was struggling to keep up but he heard them. His mood turned slightly sour and he allowed some excess Ki to leak out, forming a misty gold Aura around him.

"My name is Saiyaman!" he boomed over the crowd, amplifying his voice by projecting it with Ki, "To answer your questions I am a protector, a defender! But I am NOT a pushover." He told the swarm with a tone of finality that caused mixed reactions. "I will never harm an innocent person, but make no mistake, I am more powerful than most of the comic book heroes you advertise, so it would be in your best interests and far safer for you all to merely accept my help and .alone." with not even another word uttered he crouched and gathered his energy. Smaller objects and debris around him began to defy the laws of gravity and levitated slowly as if in slow motion, before finally he shot off into the sky with a blast of wind that knocked over the mass of humans.

"Saiyaman huh?" she muttered under her breath, "obviously an alias" she thought to herself as she devised another theory, it came to her like some higher power connected the dots. Then again, she was already a great detective and had this ability to read people so perhaps, from her perspective at least, it wasn't that strange, "Alter ego's are typically for people with secret identities. But he doesn't wear a mask or face cover of any kind. He doesn't wear much for that matter, always in just…pants and no shirt….What?! No! Focus Videl! You're a Satan!" after wrestling back her thoughts she got back on her train of thought. "So how can a guy who exposes his face and body to the public have a secret identity…" She thought about it for a while trying to make sense of the information she currently had at her disposal. Whatever it doesn't matter right now, she had to go and get training herself, the tournament was this year, and now at 17 she could fight in the adults division, she had already consecutively won 3 Junior tournaments.

Idly she wondered if "Saiyaman" would enter the tournament, he would surely win if he did. Her father certainly couldn't beat him. But then maybe that's why he hasn't entered any as of yet, there's no competition for someone like him. But then if he could do the things he could surely someone else could somewhere on Earth. Unless he was an alien sent here as a baby to escape his dying planet like Superman or something, but besides the glowing and gold hair and power, he seemed like any other human, just an incredibly ripped, muscular human.

"Ugh, I Need to punch something."

Meanwhile with Gohan

"Was I too harsh with them? Humans are easily frightened and extremely superstitious after all. I just really don't want one to try following me one day and catch me turning back to normal or something." He realized he wasn't looking where he was flying and saw that he was barreling right at some kind of billboard. He threw his Ki forward as a cushion to slow himself. He stopped just before the board and saw it was an advertisement for the World Martial Arts Tournament. "A tournament huh? That could be interesting if the others entered." It dawned on him that not a lot of his friends had stayed in contact, god knows where Tien is and Yamcha wasn't really viable as a fighter anymore. Krillin still kept in touch because he was Goku's best friend but even he had mostly been out of the picture the past 7 years. Vegeta was different, ever since Cell, Vegeta had shown kindness to Gohan…well kindness for Vegeta that is. Maybe the older man felt a sense of loneliness as the last full blooded Saiyan, and after Gohan's genetic mutation he was the closest thing to a full Saiyan that existed. Vegeta certainly held little care for the rest of the group but being one of few survivors of the group, left crippled so as to have the memory of his sacrifices die with them as he withered away must have been a haunting notion to the prince.

Still, Vegeta was well on his way to recuperation. It was only a matter of time before the proud warrior tasted the air of a battlefield as he soared free as a bird through the open sky. He was still a good training partner but Gohan couldn't go all-out with the prince until he had completely healed, which stunted the growth of his strength but fine tuned his reflexes and honed his technique. But speaking of Vegeta healing, that should be done in time for the tournament! Maybe Gohan could convince him to join the tournament with him, so he could have at least one good fight. Surely a competition based on fighting was not beneath him.

"Such a foolish competition is utterly beneath me boy!"

Scratch that…

Capsule Corp: Later

"Aw come on! Just join the damn tournament with me!" Gohan urged to the Saiyan with crossed arms and a scowl that deepened slightly at Gohan's request.

"Are you out of your blasted mind boy! A stupid little tournament ring full of Humans is now a good place for us to slug it out with each other? I can fight you whenever I please." The proud Prince pointed out to the younger Saiyan. He made a fair point but there was just something about the thought of joining a tournament and fighting other strong people to be crowned the best made him twitch with excitement. But it wasn't to be he, supposed.

"Quit moping boy and FIGHT!" Vegeta commanded, accentuating the last word with a hard right uppercut to Gohan's gut. Their Saturday spar began again in full Intensify. After the spar Gohan left Capsule Corp slightly tired and very sore intending to fly back home. He walked around looking for a deserted street or alley when he felt a strange Ki. A very powerful one. It was a more intense power than Gohan had felt for a long time, it flared from across the planet and the young Saiyan felt a worrying concern consume him. It was definitely not good, Gohan could sense the malice in it, the cruelty. It was an awful energy, comparable to Cell's. Slightly weaker still but it was concerning that it existed.

All this happened within a moment and then, just as quickly as it had come, the Ki disappeared. So quickly in fact that Gohan questioned whether or not he had actually felt it. It lasted barely long enough for him to gauge it. Energy like that wasn't found everyday, but it COULD be created artificially. It could have been a nuclear powered machine, a military weapon or even some kind of natural disaster. But Gohan couldn't forget that inkling of evil he was sure he detected in the energy signature. The young warrior shook his head and decided he must have imagined it. If anyone else had felt it they would have reacted or made some kind of indication. But Vegeta's Ki was calm and unconcerned. Krillin was asleep at Kame House. There were no signs of alarm anywhere.

"It must have been nothing." He reasoned to himself. His gaze lingered on the distant horizon in the direction where he felt the energy and watched as a deep grey Cloud formation gathered in the sky. He heard the deep booming thunder roll through the air to his eardrums and reverberating in his head, the smell of rain flooded his nostrils and bolts of lightning lit up the sky as the light from the sun was blocked out. It all felt…foreboding. Nonetheless he turned back in the direction of Satan City.

Later, when he arrived within the city limits, he heard a scream somewhere nearby. He stopped on a dime in the air and listened intently. He heard a gun shot ring out followed by a scream that curdled his blood. "SHARPENER!" Gohan's body was immediately filled with focus and adrenaline. That scream had come from very near. Immediately in a flare of preemptive anger he turned into a Super Saiyan with a grunt of anger, he was certain that had been a gun shot, and he was CERTAIN that it was Erasa's voice. He shot off in its direction, completely ignoring everything around him, including the yellow Jet Copter traveling in the same direction he was. Even a short wait as he moved was bad for him. Fury began to consume him as the silence led his thoughts to think about the possible scenarios. It could be 2, 5 or 10 men. And Erasa was now alone with them as be felt Sharpener's dwindling energy. His jaw clenched and his fingers flexed.

Minutes before: With Erasa

The Blonde duo had been walking together, visiting ice cream parlors and seeing movies together. Erasa had been quite surprised when Sharpener asked her out on a "date between friends" but she accepted nonetheless. It was going on evening and the sun had set below the tall skyscrapers of Satan City, casting most of the city in shadow. Sharpener looked around to see if anybody was around. He kind of didn't want anyone to see if he got rejected right now. He stopped their walking to turn towards the other blonde. Erasa continued a few steps before realising her friend had stilled. She looked up at the taller Blonde inquisitively, shivering slightly as it became cool and she was wearing a sleeveless top. Sharpener saw this and took off his zip-up hoodie to give to her. "Here, have this, its cold." He told her. She smiled thankfully and pulled it on, zipping it up. Sharpener chuckled briefly at the way the sleeves hung well past where her arms ended. Erasa may not be as short as Videl but she was pretty close.

"Ha-ha! Very funny." She responded bitingly, with a pout on that made Sharpener laugh harder. Erasa pouted harder for a moment before she too began giggling, no longer able to restrain herself. The two laughed together for a while before the laughter faded into content smiles. Soon though, Sharpener's was replaced by nervousness and he began fidgeting around.

"S-So, Erasa. I-Well I ugh…I really had a good time…and recently I've…you're very…gah!" he really didn't know how he should be going about this. The Blonde male ran it over in his head a few times while Erasa looked on, waiting for her friend to continue. He was having serious trouble finding a way to say all this right now. It had seemed so simple to begin with and now here he was, choking up. Sharpener glanced at the girl he had feelings for and saw her looking at him expectantly. "Damn idiot, she's waiting for you!" he berated himself internally, face-palming himself within the private recesses of his thoughts. He steadied himself, he gathered his thoughts and he took a deep breath of air. He layed his hands on each of the girl's shoulders and looked her in the eye. "Erasa there's something I need to-" but her eyes drifted over his shoulder to settle on something behind him. Her eyes widened in fear and her breath caught in her throat. Sharpener spun around and saw an extremely tall man dressed in dark clothes right behind him.

He grabbed Sharpener and picked him up by the collar, hoisting him a foot off the ground. Erasa screamed ear piercingly while Sharpener kicked and struggled against the large man's grip. He threw Sharpener against a wall, before lifting him back to his feet and holding him against it by his throat. "Give me Videl Satan!" he demanded in his deep gravelly voice.

"Fuck you!" Sharpener spat before he punched him in the face and pushed the hand away from his neck, lunging shoulder first into the guy's chest. Erasa meanwhile hit Videl's name on speed dial, while she watched the struggle with terror etched into her face. Sharpener dodged a wild swipe and nailed his attacker with an uppercut. He moved to throw a follow up punch but was interrupted by a knee to his gut that he hadn't seen. The man punched him in the face so hard his feet left the ground and he flew into a pile of full garbage bags at the corner of the alley beside them. Videl answered her phone at that moment

"Erasa? What's up?" the crime fighter asked her friend, oblivious to the danger.

"Videl help! Sharpeners being attacked!" she squealed into her mobile and immediately Videl went serious.

"What?!" Videl looked down at the display with Erasa's caller ID and traced her with her GPS system. "I'm on my way in my Copter what's happening?" She asked.

"This guy just came out of nowhere and grabbed Sharpener, they're fighting now please help us!" she whimpered into the phone.

The man heard that and turned to see the girl holding her phone to her ears. He barreled right at her and she froze completely just when Sharpener tackled his legs from behind toppling them both. He scrambled atop the other man while he was face-down and tried to finish him with a hammer fist to the back of the head when there was a bang and a searing pain tore through the right side of his chest. "SHARPENER!" he heard Erasa scream before his vision became fuzzy and he could hear his own blood pumping in his ears he fell sideways off the first guy's back and lay on the ground, suddenly feeling like his muscles were made of lead. He forced a hand up to feel where the pain was coming from and felt wetness on his fingertips. He brought them up to his eyes and saw it was blood and he realised he'd been shot.

He felt heavier again and his hand dropped to the floor beside him. He angled his head slightly so he could see behind him and lo-and-behold, there stood a second man, dressed the same as the first but holding a shiny silver coloured pistol inhis hand. They circled Erasa and her phone hit the floor. "E-Erasa…no…" he whispered, trying to reach out when there was a sudden breeze and the ground shook beneath them. Right before Sharpener was a guardian angel, come to save the girl he loved. He stood there wearing what appeared to be a Navy Blue Gi with golden hair.

The two attackers turned and panic came over their faces. The one with the gun moved to line up a shot on Gohan but he was faster, firing an invisible Kiai from his palm that threw them down the street. He turned to Sharpener and saw that he was holding on for dear life. Gohan knelt down to his Blonde friend and held his palm out over the center of Sharpeners body, almost touching it. Whispy Gold Ki flowed from Gohan's palm into the humans body, prolonging him a bit. He looked him over for the wound and saw a hole, both on the front and back of his chest. "Good, entry and exit wound" He stated before looking at Sharpener, "that means the bullet isn't still in your body. I'm going to cauterize the wound To stop the bleeding." He explained before forming a Ki-blast in his hand.

"How do you plan t-AAAAAGH!" he screeched in agony as Gohan used the heat of his blast to seal the wound up. The pain was so intense that as soon as Gohan was done, Sharpener passed out with his mouth slightly open.

"That should buy you some time." He muttered more to himself, as Erasa babbled in his ear asking what he did and that Sharpener needed help, before turning back to the men who were getting up and shaking off the daze they were put in. Videl's Jet Copter arrived on the scene just in time to see Gohan disappear out of sight right before Erasa, appearing right before the crook with the gun. He gave him just enough time to look Gohan in the eyes before he launched his fist into his gut with a little more force than was necessary, breaking ribs. Gohan used the shoulder furthest from the man's accomplice to push himself high in the air and swing around the back of criminal he just punched, placing a solid kick right to the back of the neck of the second one. He let go off the first one's shoulder and dropped into a stand behind the two of them before they collapsed, unconscious.

Videl marveled in awe at the grace and calm of such perfect timing and technique. She felt butterflies in her stomach as his muscular form moved smoothly, his expression never changing from indifference mixed with anger. She ignored that feeling vehemently and focused on her injured friend, landing on the empty road beside where all this happened. She rushed over to Sharpener only to hear "He'll be fine. He was shot but it was a clean in-and-out. I closed the wound myself, he would have bled to death otherwise." The warrior told the Earthling girl.

"Thank you for saving him. I'll take him to a hospital, could you just drop these guys off at the precinct?" she asked politely.

"No I'll take him to the hospital, you deal with the crooks." Gohan replied emotionlessly, a look of anger came over her face and she opened her mouth, no doubt to berate him for his rudeness, when he cut her off to reword that, "Sorry that sounded rude, I should explain. I'm faster than the jet I'll take him." He clarified.

"No way you're faster than this thing." Videl argued, thinking he was overestimating himself.

"Yes way. Did you notice that gold blur that passed you while you were on your way here?" Gohan questioned with a soft smile that was not smug or arrogant.

"Yeah, how do you know-ohhh…THAT WAS YOU!?" she exclaimed in complete disbelief. She knew he was fast but she didn't know he was FAST.

"It isn't that impressive. If I dared to use my full power I theorise that I could move at about 8 times the speed of sound." Gohan told her as she hoisted the criminals into her copter. At that her eyes bugged out of their sockets and her jaw hit the ground. "Anyway, don't worry about those guys waking up while you fly, they're not going to be able to move even if they wake up. I'll take him now, see you later." He said waving as he was about to leave.

"Wait! Just a second!" she called out, getting him to stop. "How?" she asked him with a look of amazement.

"How what?" he queried, raising an eyebrow at her vague question.

"How do you do it? Fly, shoot lasers, save cities, how do you do all that?" she asked- no -practically begged him to tell her.

"I'm not sure I should tell you…I don't think you'd understand…" Gohan repled thoughtfully.

"Please just tell me something! I'll be open and I'll hear you out. If I don't prove that I believe you then you never have to tell me anything about yourself ever again." She compromised for Saiyaman.

He seemed to think about it for a long while. "Alright then, I do all this with my inner energy. If you can prove to me that you understand to some degree and that you believe what I'm telling you, then I might tell you more about myself." He explained, before shooting off into the sky with Sharpener in a gold flame…

A.N – Sorry this took so long all but I just finished school, got a job pretty much out the gate, and I've applied to university. I've been a bit busy and unable to write but I recently got Word on my phone and synced it with my word online account where I type these up, so I can work on it wherever I go. So I should be able to update more frequently now.

Now I'd just like to respond to a review from Torturer-of-Souls that said, "Fuck dude its MAGIC! There's no science involved". I don't want to be rude but you are completely wrong about that dude. In DBZ they make it clear that Ki and Magic are totally different. Babidi uses Magic, Goku uses Ki. What you see them doing in the show (eg the Kamehameha wave) is a physical manifestation of their spiritual energy. You are right that there is no science involved in creating such an attack. But it creates results that happen within the realm of scientific explanation. For example, they use their energy to fly right? Totally non-scientific. But when they fly they're moving at a speed. If you did Physics then you'd understand that any object that moves at any speed will encounter wind resistance and gravity here on Earth. There is a great deal of science involved when motion is involved. I'm actually cutting a lot of it out. Like if Gohan broke the sound barrier like he has done multiple times throughout, then his clothes should have all been instantly blown to pieces and potentially his body, but this is DBZ so I let a lot of it slide.


	8. Chapter 8: Gohan's vision

Gohan dropped Sharpener off at the hospital receiving scared, nervous and angry expressions from the staff and other patients, _"Sheesh, tough crowd"_ he thought to himself as he left the hospital, _"some of those people look like they hate me"_ Gohan remarked internally, wondering at the refusal of the human race to believe anything that seemed impossible to them. His thoughts quickly changed course however when he started thinking about what he heard from those crooks. They wanted Videl…that was the second batch of crooks that wanted Videl. It couldn't be a coincidence, Tao had said something about a plan to take over the world, but Gohan never asked more about it. _"Idiot!"_ It definitely wasn't Tao, Gohan was 100 percent sure he was completely destroyed…which meant… _"Dammit! How could I have not seen this?! There is someone who Tao was working for! He couldn't have fixed himself up like that! And because I destroyed him I now have no way of knowing who or what I'm looking for! Fuck!"_ the self-berating that he endured fueled his anger to melting point. The Ki surrounding him turned the air hot and humid. It brewed the clouds around him as he flew. He noticed what he was doing and reined his energy in. He was not eager to reawaken the power that defeated Cell above an unsuspecting city. He took deep breaths and an idea hit him like lightning. The criminals he beat down, surely one of them must know something about it. He abruptly changed direction and flew towards the police station, the two he beat today should still be there, no way a court date would have even been organized for them yet. He sensed that Videl was still there. That was fortunate, she at least trusted him to SOME degree. He didn't think he could deal with a bunch of skeptical, stuck-up, useless Police Officers right now…okay maybe that was a bit harsh but seriously they should listen to him! He'd been involved in saving their asses from Aliens plenty of times, he knew what he was doing!

He reached the Police Department and dropped out of the air just at the bottom of the steps that led to the front door, stunning a few officers into dropping their coffees and lunches. One of them was so alarmed by his sudden close proximity that he reached down and grabbed his gun, upholstering it with lightning speed…for a human. Right as the officer opened his mouth to say something and began bringing his gun upwards Gohan cut him off without so much as looking at him. "That weapon is unnecessary officer I mean you no harm" Gohan started off, polite as ever, but still the alarm remained and the officer now had his gun pointed at Gohan's chest. Gohan sighed but did not comment on it, he understood that his Super Saiyan form made him look somewhat aggressive and unapproachable, and he instead tried continuing in polite fashion.

"Put your hands on the back of your head and step back sir!" he commanded, authority in his tone. It was obvious he was an experienced officer. Gohan complied, slowly raising his hands, palm open in the air before bringing them to the back of his head, and taking a few drawn out steps backward.

"Officer I'm being compliant with you as I am not here to hurt you. If you have not already recognized me by my glow, I am Saiyaman" he began, volume low and speech measured. He really wanted to avoid unnecessary confrontation with the city's law enforcement. Not that they could do anything to him, but he figured it would yield no conceivable benefit and would more than likely cause issues for him later down the road. Staying on good terms with the people here would make his job much smoother, and less troublesome. "The gold man who's been helping out in the city recently, I only came here to talk to Videl Satan." He explained, his eyes closed and hands in plain sight, appealing to their helpful nature.

"I know who you are" the officer revealed with an equally measured tone, "but that doesn't mean I trust you." He continued, with an edge to his voice that concerned the young Saiyan. What was that supposed to mean?

"At ease Lieutenant!" a familiar, feminine voice called out from behind the twitchy police officer, who also seemed to recognise the voice, and so he lowered his weapon and gave Saiyaman an extremely critical look-over before turning to see Videl come bounding down the stairs. "What are you doing here Saiyaman? Where's Sharpener? I thought you were taking him to the hospital?" Videl questioned, voice quickly growing more and more urgent and frenzied.

Gohan held his palms up placatingly, "Your friend is just fine. I already took him to the infirmary" at the look of disbelief and incredulity on Videl's face the proclaimed Super Hero preempted her next words and answered so as to save time, "Yes I'm aware that I'd have to be going faster than humanly possible to do that. As I am now I can fly at about 4 times the speed of sound, I explained this remember?" he asked somewhat impatiently. He didn't mean to be irritable, he just felt pressed for time to try and collect and compile all the information about this plot as he could. Her life depended on this!

"Oh, well than why are you here?" the girl asked, doing her best to make a rudely-worded sentence sound proper and polite.

"Videl this may be a bit much for you to take in and hear right now considering the situation with your friend that just took place, but I have reason to believe that there is an illegally funded criminal plot to have you murdered." Gohan told her, gripping both of her shoulders gently as he told her with a calm voice that was clearly avoiding making her worry or freak out about it. That was the opposite of what he wished to achieve. Gohan was instead hoping that he could gain the aid of the police force and their resources, or at least Videl and her attuned people sense and detective ability, both of which Gohan did not quite possess.

Videl looked shocked but otherwise unaffected by his words, "Are you sure?" she asked him, voice low as she pulled Gohan further away from the police station, looking around as if checking that they were alone, "Are you REALLY sure?" she asked again. She didn't want to hear 'maybe's or 'possibly's in a situation like this.

"I'm sure" Gohan verified with certainty before he cocked his head slightly at her and his face twisted into confusion as he scratched his head, "This doesn't surprise you" it wasn't a question, rather a statement of fact evidenced through observation of the girl before and after telling her.

Videl sighed heavily and placed her hands on her hips, looking at the ground while lightly chewing her bottom lip out of nervous habit, "Not really no, the amount of criminals I put away and the state I leave them in makes me wonder why a massive target wasn't painted on my back sooner…"she sounded uncharacteristically put-out at this. Videl was normally a girl of headstrong action. She reveled in facing new and difficult challenges regardless of the potential consequences should she fail, another aspect of her personality that reminded Gohan of his late father. Yet here she was, looking almost apprehensive about something for a short time before her face shot up to look at him, eyes wide with the realisation of something. Uh oh, she looked like she was going to ask him something. "Saiyaman?" she had a slightly guilty look on her face but her eyes contained hope, what for Gohan had no idea.

He considered not allowing himself the possibility of getting roped into something by flying off without responding, but he knew what his mother would do if she even HEARD that he did something like that. And if Videl was anything like his mother then GOD FORBID he do something like that directly to her. So instead he played the game of chance and awaited his fate to come kick him in the dragon balls like it always did.

Videl seemed to take his silent response (which came in the form of him staring at her while his face ran through a series of different emotions, as if he was having an internal struggle before it settled on what appeared to be acceptance and he refocused his attention on her) to mean that he was listening since she continued, "Could you do me a big favour and not tell anyone about this?" She asked him almost pleadingly, again this was unlike the Videl he knew.

"If you want me to even consider keeping it a complete secret then you have to tell me why." Gohan bargained, trying to get some kind of context to this whole situation.

Videl frowned slightly but didn't argue, "If you tell anyone, even a random civilian on the street, even if you leave them with no evidence whatsoever to back it up, it will spread like wildfire" she began, and Gohan was beginning to see where this might be going.

A few moments of silence passed and the Saiyan raised an eyebrow at the girl, seemingly unimpressed at the fact that she thought he had heard enough, "Continue." He pressed, moving his finger to draw a circle in the air in the universal symbol for "move it along".

Videl rolled her eyes and huffed in frustration at the Super Hero, "Duh! My name is so big around here that news will quickly spread to every media outlet, possibly world wide! Everyone will know! And if the Police chief knows there's a plot to have me killed…" her voice trailed off and she blushed, desperately trying to turn her head in a way that hid her burning cheeks.

For her sake Gohan pretended not to see it, and instead finished the explanation for her, "Then you'll be taken off duty and put under maximum protection, forced to stay in your home until its resolved." Gohan finished as an educated guess. He realised now what had made Videl seem deflated and nervous, it was the prospect that she might not be ALLOWED to face this new challenge at all, and would instead be grounded like some little kid. It would be a serious blow to her warrior spirit. Gohan could definitely sympathise with that notion.

"Exactly…Its not fair! I know me better than them, I could stay one step ahead of them, lure them, trap them! That's why you can't tell anyone! How will I ever progress if I'm not allowed to fight my own battles?" she questioned, obviously more to herself than with Gohan, and seemed emotionally invested in it.

He folded his arms and walked a few steps beyond her, looking out at the rest of the city in silence for a while before responding, obviously thinking of the correct response. "Videl the caliber of the people they're sending for you, its not something you could handle. Plus since the department wouldn't know, if you were to be captured or worse no one would know how or why. To be brutally honest with you Videl its too dangerous and you have no chance on your own. It would be in your best interest to stay in your home until everyone involved is caught and dealt with." Gohan finally said, there was no emotion in his statement. He held no malice or anger or arrogance or even sympathy, he merely stated the facts and made sure it was clear.

Videl's fists clenched and her eyes screwed shut, her body quaked with frustration, but also with sadness, a crushed ego, and a feeling of weakness. She felt so useless and it was made so much worse by the fact that the unstoppable Super Hero was not only the one to tell her, but would probably enforce it so she had no chance of sneaking out and doing it of her own accord. She felt a pain where her heart was and almost felt like she would cry.

"That being said…I completely agree with you." He added suddenly with a tone of consideration to his voice. Videl looked up at him in surprise and confusion. "You cannot grow as a fighter if you aren't allowed to fight your own battles. And being held back from testing yourself and trying is hard, trust me I know. My warrior spirit sympathises with your situation…" still Videl wasn't quite sure where Saiyaman was going with this. "I wasn't exaggerating when I said you had no chance on your own. And it's tue that no one else in the world will know what happened to you if you were to be captured or killed, so I suppose since I know it's up to me to make sure that doesn't happen…" hope began to fill up Videl's being now, she stared in complete shock at what Saiyaman was suggesting. "Videl, I will allow you to take this on, but I will be stepping in if at any point you are about to die." The girl couldn't believe what she was hearing. Sure she was a little disappointed at first that she wouldn't be allowed to handle it completely by herself but after remembering Tao and his men her disappointment was overshadowed by her understanding and acceptance.

"Saiyaman I don't know what to sa-" she was interrupted before she could finish however.

"I'm not quite done yet. As you are now, you are quite strong for a normal human, but if I'm to be frank, you're weak in the grand scheme of things."

Videl burned to argue back about that but she held her tongue as first of all she feared he may take back his generosity should he feel disrespect from her, and secondly, who was she to tell a Super Hero with his abilities that she was strong?

"But during your fight with Tao, I sensed something in you…" he trailed off mysteriously. "For a short time your power increased dramatically, you became even a tenth of my current power, which may not sound like much but trust me for a human like you, that's impressive." He complimented.

Videl caught the "human" remark but decided to file that information away for later, "Okay but so what. I haven't gotten any stronger in quite a while now. I think I've hit my limit so I hope you don't have high hopes for me…" the Raven-haired girl responded dejectedly.

Gohan merely chuckled at her, shaking his head slightly. "You may have reached your limit for training how you have been. But you haven't even begun to tap into your real power." Gohan explained, instantly piquing Videl's interest. "Videl I set you a task earlier, to discover something about how I do what I do. I'll tell you what, if you can find something about it and gain even a vague understanding of it, I'll teach you it as best I can." He propositioned her.

Her eyes almost bugged out of their sockets at this, "You-You'll teach me it? It can be taught!?" she near-screamed in excitement and shock.

Gohan nodded her an affirmation, his back still facing her "Mhm, at least most of it. It would entail flying, blasts like the "lasers" I shoot, enhanced strength and speed, that kind of thing." He told her.

Videl's eyes began watering up and she could barely hold it back. He was going to teach her to fly and be a Super Hero, it was any kids dream, but better yet, he was going to teach her to become a stronger fighter than she ever could have been on her own. "Thank you…thank you Saiyaman." She tremored out.

This was a side to the girl that, before now, Gohan doubted even existed, let alone that he would ever see with his own eyes. It was the only real indication that as strong as she was, Videl was still human and female, and she had emotions. It really opened Gohan's mind up to what her life must be like and how it all affects her. He turned enough that she could see his face and it was stretched in a friendly grin, "Don't thank me yet, you still have some homework to do before I'll teach you." He reminded with a playful, teasing tone.

And just like that Videl's expression became determined, and her spirit came back in full, making Gohan smile even wider. Suddenly before either could say another word to the other an explosion rang out, shaking the whole station and putting both fighters on high alert immediately. Videl ran straight for the front doors while Gohan took a moment to reach out with his energy and feel out for whatever caused that. He felt a few Ki's right where he felt the explosion from however they seemed excited. Then they began quickly disappearing, one-by-one, as if they were all dying instantly and frequently amongst themselves. But how could that be possible, if they were being killed that quickly and suddenly then there would be panic among the survivors, they would be running away from whatever it was. But they all seemed eager and happy and were staying where they were. Gohan observed the Ki's of Videl and what must have been officers rushing towards the room in a group. 2 of them were way closer than the group and entered the room ahead of them and Saiyaman sensed quick flickers of energy and suddenly one of the 2 Officers faded to nothing while the other was alive but barely. It was down to the last few signatures in the immediate vicinity and they were disappearing fast. He had a bad feeling about all this. Gohan growled with frustration and moved quickly.

Videl was running towards the source with a group of other officers, she didn't know what Saiyaman was doing but knew better than to question the wise and helpful hero, and instead focused on getting to the blast site as quickly as possible. By now she had figured out the blast originated in the room where they temporarily held the suspects and that didn't bode well. Suddenly Saiyaman phased into existence right before her, grabbed her by the wrist and suddenly the world blurred into indescribable blends of colour and she felt dizzy. The world then came into focus and she found herself being steadied by Saiyaman in the hall that ran along the line of cells. Saiyaman arrived just in time to see what looked like a silver skeleton pull a cell door open. Gohan immediately noticed that it had no Ki. The strange being reached inside the cell and pulled out a criminal. Seemingly upon making contact with the criminal, his Ki disappeared suddenly. The silver man turned and saw Gohan and Videl and raised his arm. The appendage seemed more like a cannon and it began to hum and whir. It seemed to be charging and suddenly it fired, and at the moment it fired Gohan sensed the attack, which was also mentally noted. He pulled Videl behind him and took the attack head on and felt a slight burn but was otherwise unaffected. His first reaction was an urge to fire back but stopped himself quite quickly because if he fired the prisoner would be caught in the crossfire.

Gohan lowered his arm and watched it dive through a wall before disappearing down a hole in the ground on the other side. He could have chased but he saw the still living injured Police officer on the ground dying and decided that he was the only chance he had to survive. Gohan crouched over his injured form and checked him over for injury. He noted the sizeable hold in the right side of his chest. Thinking back on the attack he began to piece together information about these foes. That blast it fired at Gohan, it wasn't spiritual energy, it was some kind of Plasma/laser weapon, unlike Tao. Granted that one had been very weak but who knew if that was simply fired to kill a human or otherwise weak target, perhaps it could amp up the attack far beyond what it had displayed.

Gohan transferred a little bit of energy to the injured officer, "Videl, he has enough time for you to get him to the hospital! You take him, I'll follow that tunnel and see where it leads." Be detailed, expression serious.

"What? You're going to follow them!?" Videl questioned incredulously. Saiyaman would be heavily outnumbered down there and these weren't just everyday crooks, who knew what they were capable of!?

"I know what you're thinking but I have to! Those crooks they spring free, they're the only ones who might have information about who's trying to have you killed, and its no coincidence that a group of killer robots broke in and took them away." Gohan explained, thinking back to Tao. Tao had been confident he would be able to beat Gohan and so the Saiyan never considered that he hadn't been 100% truthful about the nature of his plans and his reasoning for luring out Videl. But it was apparent he had only told Gohan a half-truth. Or at the very least, their plan had evolved since Gohan defeated Tao. But why? Now that they knew Gohan was a factor in the fight they were simply making their job riskier. Then again, perhaps they were incompetent and hadn't been watching closely. It WAS entirely possible that they had failed to realize be got more powerful when he was angered and simply thought that if capturing Videl would call him out, then killing her would take her out the picture and Gohan wouldn't be able to simple rescue her. If that was the case they had made a serious oversight. After all, it made no sense that they could want Gohan to get angry…

Shaking his head clear he nodded to Videl and then turned and jumped out the window and took off, flying down the hole and following the tunnel's path. He weaved around winding turns and avoided outcroppings as if he saw them all in slow motion, never slowing down from just below Mach speed. He flew for a while and began to hear a growing hum. He slowed down now, dropping to the ground of the tunnel and walking. There was a big corner up ahead and he could see a bright red light, shining from beyond it. As he approached it Gohan tried to get a sense of what it was. He felt an energy signature, very similar to the one that he sensed when they fired their lasers. But it was much larger and stationary. He guessed that it was the hum he heard and thought it may be some kind of generator. He found himself very wrong.

As Saiyaman rounded the corner he came face to face with what appeared to be a massive cannon, pointing at him with a huge red ball of plasma or similar, bigger than him in fact, at the far end of the barrel. He had walked into a trap, _"Fuck!"_ it fired and struck Gohan full on. He screamed aloud and felt his back hit the wall of the corner, the blast became unstable and it burned hotter, beginning to expand. It was going to explode and take out a good chunk of the city with it. Gohan wouldn't be killed by such a blast normally, but it wasn't Ki, if was made up of something Gohan had not encountered before, in real life of in his many books. The explosion would possibly be nuclear and could radiate him beyond repair. At this range it could burn so hot he was cooked alive or even melted, he would likely not survive.

The Saiyan teen closed his eyes in preparation for the end and was almost frightened when instead of darkness he saw Videl, staring back at him with a frown that quickly turned into a distraught expression, "Please don't leave me…" she begged softly with tears brimming in her eyes. His eyes flew open and he was overcome with anger, "no….no! NNN-AAAUUUGH!" his no blended into a warcry and his energy soared for a moment. How much by he didn't know, but he used his energy to contain the blast within the tunnel as best he could and infused his body with energy. It detonated in his face and his warcry was slowly over-shadowed by the horrible fumbling of the explosion that rocked the city.

 **Moments before: With Videl**

Videl was flying her jet-copter towards the hospital when she heard a deep rumble and the whole city seemed to shudder. She looked back and saw a huge area of road begin to bulge outward as if something was pressing against it from underneath. The people around it either reversed as far as they could or got out of their vehicles and backed far away, then suddenly it stopped expanding and a tunnel of red light pierced the road and shot into the sky just over the city, the rumble got much louder and if one listened they could hear a prolonged scream bellowed alongside it, before the light faded to nothing. The rumbling subsided and the people nearest where it came from stood enraptured by what they had seen. "Saiyaman!" she thought instantly, terrified for her new partner. She was torn, this officer needed to be hospitalized as soon as possible but who knew how much help Saiyaman needed. And saving him would save potentially hundreds more lives, but she couldn't play favourites with lives, the officer was with her right now and there was DEFINITELY a possibility of him surviving. Videl squeezed her eyes shut and turned away from where the blast had come from, knowing that she would have to leave Saiyaman for now. She set her jet-copter to move at faster than legal speeds and shot for the hospital, if she moved fast enough she could get back in time to help Saiyaman...hopefully.

 **Meanwhile: With someone**

A man was training in a mountain range not far from the city named after the afro guy when he felt something he had not felt in quite a while, a large energy blast. Lately he had been sensing a lot of strange things. People powering up, large destructive battles. But this was the first time in a long time he could claim he sensed a truly large blast. At first he chose to simply ignore it, even as he felt a fading Ki near the center of it. He continued shadow-boxing. Fighting an opponent only he could see, only he could envision, only he could challenge. His fists flew and his muscles rippled, stretching the now faded scars his torso and body were covered in. But something nagged at him and ate at his conscience. He felt guilty for deciding to leave whoever it was to die slowly amongst that blast. But why? No human could survive long enough for him to get there and help anyway. Yet still he felt as if he were betraying an old friend by not going, as preposterous as that sounded. Once again he tried to return to his training but again he felt a spiritual pull towards the life form. A deep urgency to go help them, so deep that he couldn't shake it. Something, or some _one_ was trying to tell him he needed to get down there right now. As much as the old fighter thought he must be going insane after all these years of solitude, he decided that it could not hurt and if it would make the turmoil in his heart stop it was worth at least checking it out for himself. And so with that in mind, and for the first time in many years, a sense of purpose in his heart, he shot towards the area he had felt the blast come from, intent on saving whoever it was that had been unfortunate enough to get caught in something as massive as that, he just hoped he made it in time to help this time around.

 _That's it again everyone. Another chapter, much faster than the last one as promised. So for those wondering the substance that makes up the blasts that these new baddies are using is not a real element, or even a pre-existing fictional element as far as I know. There was nothing that quite had the properties I required to make it work how I wanted to I made up one. Have no name for it yet but I'll come up with one when I need it. Anyway, who wants to guess who the mysterious fighter is that's on his way to help Gohan? Take a guess come on, bet you won't guess it. Anyway, until next time everybody._


	9. Chapter 9: New Threat

Videl arrived back at the blast zone half an hour later. She had successfully got the injured police officer to the closest hospital and had him tended to. Every minute that passed though made her more afraid, more irritable, more frustrated, she needed to help Saiyaman, she jumped out her Jet Copter and re-capsulised it as she fell. With the grace of a cat she crouched low upon contact with the ground, absorbing a good portion of the force. She ran over to where the road had bulged and now a small crowd had gathered around the area, and she was forced to fight her way through them, however in her worry she failed to take notice of the fact that the closer she got to the 4 foot wide circular hole, the hotter it got. She got within feet of the entry and jumped with the intent of dropping right in when a hand grabbed her by the back of her shirt and flew her back a few feet.

"Shit that was close, are you alright?" the person, now revealed by the deep grovelly voice to be a man, asked her. Videl turned to look at him and was met by a hooded figure, wearing some kind of white cloak and monk-like fighter gear underneath. She could make out a pair of lips with a thin scar running straight through the right side of them and a scar that ended on his jaw near his earlobe, though she couldn't see where it started.

The Raven haired girl jerked her shoulder to tug her shirt out the man's grasp and faced him with a slightly irritated scowl, "I'm fine thanks, I'm Videl Satan this is kind of my job, now if you'll excuse me someone's i-"

"You can't go in there, the temperature from the blast will melt the skin off your bones." He explained urgently, stopping her in her tracks. He knew her name, and being the daughter of a decent Martial Artist wouldn't protect her in there. The man was surprised however when he saw her look back at him with fear and sadness in her eyes. He had heard that she was supposed to be extremely tough and almost boyish. That meant she personally knew whoever was in there.

"So…You're saying Saiyaman is already-"

"Saiyaman?" he asked, that name, it sounded a lot like the word Saiyan, it could be coincidence but considering the nature of the situation he felt like he should be sure.

"Yes, as in the gold-haired hero who protected the city. That's him in there, but if it's that hot and its already been half an hour…" the girl trailed off and the man's mind blanked at that information.

"Gold hair, hero, name that sounds like Saiyan…" he didn't like the conclusion he was coming to and he reached out with his Ki, sensing the energy there, noting that it did indeed feel familiar. He ran it through his memory when it came to him and his eyes flew open, "Gohan!" his mind screamed and realisation hit him like the blast Gohan had been hit with. The energy was weak already yes but only now that he knew what to compare it too did he realise how dangerous it was. Gohan was in serious trouble. The fighter knew he couldn't withstand heat like that for long but now that he knew how bad it was he couldn't afford to wait for it to cool down anymore. He pulled his cloak off his shoulders and Videl was given a good look at the man's full face and was shocked by what she saw. Greater was her shock though at seeing the man charge at the entry with a sudden change of atitude.

"Hey what are you doing!? Didn't you ju-" once again she found herself cut off by a man in command, she brushed off her irritation to hear what he had to say for an explanation.

"Your friend is alive, I can sense him, but just barely. His body can withstand much greater heat than ours can, but he won't last long. I have a way to protect myself from the hot air for a short time and it should work just enough for me to get him out of there, get some cool water please, call for it, something, and a fair amount of it, we'll need it." He stated, before he turned and his body was suddenly surrounded by a sphere of something that looked a lot like glass. He dived into the hole in the ground and disappeared from sight completely.

Videl watched with worry for a moment before tearing her eyes away from the scene towards the people around her watching, before she started ordering them all to get water. Why they would need so much she did not know but she was inclined to listen to the strange man as he appeared to have similar powers to Saiyaman. As the people around her rushed and a few ambulances arrived at the scene she couldn't help but think about the guy. Not that she was attracted to him or anything but to be honest, she had never seen a man with 3 eyes before…

Underground: Meanwhile

Tien Shin-han was immediately met with boiling temperatures that not even his energy shield could protect him from. He looked around and it was pure chaos, it looked like every human depiction of hell down there. Super heated rock, open flames, rubble, jagged out-croppings, metal wreckage. And among if all somewhere was Gohan. This thought alone kicked Tien into gear as he began floating deeper into it all making sure he had his focus set on maintaining his energy shield. The heat rapidly began dehydrating Tien, as he sweat uncontrollably from every pore on his skin. He searched through it all for agonizingly slow minutes of pain, looking for the son of his late friend and rival.

Eventually, as his instinct to survive began screaming at him to get out of there, he laid eyes upon the young warrior, laying on a small raised section of Rock surrounded by flames and molten lava.

Gohan lay bleeding from many places but most all of the blood had dried against his skin from the heat in large streams over his face, chest, arms and legs. He had nothing on his torso but wounded, bleeding skin. His pants were in tatters and looked more like Swiss cheese than a garment. Through the many holes and tears, rivulets of blood could be seen on his legs. Tien knelt by his side and looked him over, he was in bad shape, and he was totally unconscious. He was about to lift him up when he realised something, he was unconscious! His Black hair would be a dead giveaway about his identity. Tien placed an open hand on his chest and transferred as much of his energy to the teen as he could without passing out. Gohan's face twisted in a grimace before his eyes opened and he found himself awake. He shot up into a sitting position, blinking a few times, obviously failing to notice Tien. "I'm…alive." He acknowledged in a low tone that turned into a deep growl, which then turned into a chuckle, "When there is no more room in hell, Gohan shall rise and walk the-!" he paused as he saw the flame and molten rock surrounding him, "-other hell, what the hell?" he questioned in a comical manner that made Tien chuckle himself, just audibly enough that Gohan COULD hear it.

He spun in surprise and saw a panting, exhausted Tien crouched low on the floor sweating and coughing. Moving to him and helping him to his feet Gohan fully came to his senses and remembered what had happened and figured Tien must have been near, "Tien, are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, just get us outta here quickly, we won't last long in here. I gave you the last of my energy, your friend is up there waiting, so turn Super Saiyan already to keep your identity and let's get the fuck out." Tien informed before promptly falling limp against Gohan, panting louder from exerting all the energy it took to tell him. Gohan nodded and transformed, throwing away all the slowly encroaching lava and flames before shooting up out of the hole into much cooler daylight in the city. He moved away from the blast zone and onto level ground before he dropped to his knees with Tien who also collapsed alongside him, both coughing and wheezing. Videl rushed over with bottles of water as Gohan keeled over and collapsed entirely, barely conscious, diverting all his energy into maintaining his Super Saiyan form. Tien looked up and seemed grateful and moved to reach out for a bottle but sweatdropped when she passed him up completely.

"That...bitch..." Tien muttered before being hit in the back of the head by a bottle. He growled and cracked the lid open taking a mouthful as he looked over to the girl kneeling over Gohan's injured form as she opened up a bottle for him. Gohan reached out for it but she smacked his hand away with an angry expression.

"Oh no, I'm not letting you use any more energy than you have to. For all I know you could die on me and I'll never get my training if you die" she scolded as if it was his fault. She looped her fingers underneath his neck and pulled him up onto her lap with what appeared to be a great deal of difficulty. "Drink." She ordered simply and Gohan simply glared at her and opened his mouth and drank from the bottle. Videl figured he had enough and moved to pull the bottle away but was interrupted when he grunted at her. Surprised she merely scowled at him but kept the bottle there as he continued drinking from it until it was empty. She pulled the empty water bottle up to her face and stared in disbelief. That was a 2 Liter bottle!

"Another please." His hoarse voice near begged the girl. Her frustration slowly wore off as she lifted another bottle to his lips and watched in curiosity as he guzzled it down just as quickly and thoroughly. She really didn't know what to do when he asked for yet _another_ bottle other than just open it and raise it to his lips where he snatched it and tipped it further back. She stared amazed at what she was seeing when a single bead of the water escaped his mouth and rolled down his jaw. She made the mistake of following the drop as it rolled down his form and immediately she felt her face heat up and she looked away and caught Gohan's look, "You look like you need a bottle, It's still pretty hot around the blast zone so if you need some yourself don't be too shy-" he was cut off with a mouthy reply from the feisty girl.

"I'm fine! I do NOT need any water! Ugh, you're such a macho. You just got caught in a giant catastrophe and you're covered in blood and injuries, but you still feel the need to make me the damsel in distress." She yelled at him with a reprimanding tone.

"What?! No Videl I-" he tried to say with a panicked expression when he was interrupted yet again before he could finish his sentence.

"Besides you look like you need it more at the rate you're drinking these. What are you a camel?" She asked with a pouty face and Gohan smiled as he realized she was just trying to take the attention off of herself.

 _"Girls are weird."_ He thought to himself as he continued drinking, "To answer your question no I'm obviously not a camel. But I have a huge metabolism due to the energy my abilities take to use, well that and it's a genetic trait in my family." He told her as he finished his bottle. She seemed to perk up at that.

"You've never mentioned a family before..." Videl tentatively probed the superhero who looked at her with a raised brow.

"Well of course I have a family, I had to come from somewhere. I didn't just sprout out of the ground one day." He remarked mockingly to which she blushed again, this time out of embarrassment, as she looked off to the side, avoiding Saiyaman's smug gaze.

"I dunno, I guess I just figured you were some kind of alien sent as a baby from a dying planet or something…" she muttered out to him, causing him to chuckle good-naturedly at her.

"What you mean like Superman?" he asked with another laugh, which made her go redder. He suddenly felt bad for her…maybe he should…give her something to go on. His mind was screaming at him not to say anything and that it was a bad idea to giver her any information about his personal life. But his heart bled for her and she had been so sure of herself, he felt the need to indulge her a bit. "You aren't far off you know?"

At that Videl's eyes snapped to his in complete surprise, what did he mean by that? "W-what do y-"

"I was born here on Earth, just like you, I didn't even know until I was 4 years old…" he explained and she furrowed her brow quizically. Didn't he just imply her alien statement had some measure of truth to it? So what did he mean?

"Didn't know what?" she asked him. Saiyaman sat there and stared off into the sky wistfully, face relaxed and a slight upward curve gracing his lips.

"My father like me, was a great warrior. For many years of his life he simply believed that he was gifted as a fighter, which was true, but it extended far beyond that…" he closed his eyes as if making some final decision in his mind before continuing, "After I was born, when I was about 4 years old, my father's true origins were revealed to us." That statement immediately got Videl's attention, he noted however that many other prying ears and eyes were set upon the duo, and even a few news crews were filming the situation. He growled in annoyance, confusing Videl. "Sorry Videl, too many people…maybe another time. Let's go Tien." He said pulling Tien to his feet.

Videl got up in a bid to stop him but Saiyaman was far too fast for her, and shot into the sky with his 3-eyed friend. "Dammit! Just as he was about to tell me something really important! The nerve of that guy!" she shouted out loud to no-one in particular. A snicker from the crowd redirected her attention to them, "YOU! You nosy people are the reason he took off! Haven't you all ever heard of privacy!?" she bellowed at them all before hopping in her Jet-copter and taking off for home. Today had simply been too much.

Meanwhile: with Gohan

"Stupid stupid stupid!" Gohan yelled out loud, berating himself very audibly and thoroughly. Tien simply looked ahead with a dumbfounded expression on his face as he listened to Gohan's rant, not sure if he should be paying attention or not. "What the hell is wrong with me!? For fucks sake I'm smarter than that, yet there I was, ready to spill my life story to this…this HUMAN girl!" he said with a disgusted snarl on his face, "How could I be so pathetic!? And now I've probably hurt her feelings for taking off on her! God dammit! Am I, or am I not the worst excuse for Earth's protector possible?" Gohan asked aloud. Tien opened his mouth to reassure the boy he was a great protector but was cut off by more ranting. Tien sweat-dropped with a nervous expression on his face.

" _You sure have grown up kid."_ Tien thought as he watched the power house of a fighter argue with himself. He hadn't seen him since he fought Cell and, surprisingly, he felt good seeing him. He thought he enjoyed the loneliness after the incident but seeing the boy now, reminding Tien so much of Goku himself, and experiencing his company first-hand, he felt…happy. Perhaps he had spent enough time in solitude.

As if he had read his mind Gohan suddenly dropped out of Super Saiyan and addressed the older fighter, "Sorry about that, I'm a grown man now I shouldn't be having temper tantrums. Thank you for saving me today, I'm actually glad to see you. It's been so long since I've seen anyone from the old group but Krillin or Vegeta." The teenager lamented, turning to look at Tien with a grin on his face, "Say, would you like to come to my apartment for dinner? It's the least I can do for an old friend who did so much to help my dad AND saved my ass."

Tien accepted the young warrior's offer and followed him through the darkening city. After arriving Gohan ordered a bunch of pizzas and they watched TV together and just talked for a while. Gohan eventually brought the topic of the Dragonballs up, "I talked to Dende. He said that his teachings from Namek got him a good portion of the way to creating new Dragonballs. But he's reached a point where he's stuck, as Dad pulled him here before he finished his training." Gohan explained.

"That's okay, it's too late to bring them all back anyway." Tien added sadly. The older fighter however was surprised when he felt Gohan's energy raise a fair amount, "Gohan, are you alright?" the 3-eyed Martial Artist asked politely.

At that the energy in the room lowered back down a little bit and Gohan unclenched his fists, "Yeah sorry, its just I…lost someone recently. A friend. Kinda hard living without those Dragonballs huh? Guess we became too reliant on them and the universe had to remind us to deal with our own problems." He said slowly. Tien thought it was a slightly depressing thought but figured that he was right to a degree. In the beginning the Dragonballs were only used in emergencies but they had grown reliant on them instead of adapting to their situation. The older fighter could do nothing but nod in agreement with the young man's words of wisdom.

Meanwhile: With Videl

The teenaged girl was still in a huff when she arrived home that night. She went and had a shower straight away before plunking in bed, staring at the ceiling of her bedroom. Her father still wasn't home from his business trip and the servants weren't exactly conversationalists. It was during her internal rant about a certain superhero that she remembered she was supposed to return to him with information about how be did what he did. He would train her if she could do that, then she would get all the information she wanted.

With that thought in mind the girl took to her laptop, researching all the public information about Saiyaman and his powers, which was next to nothing. _"That 3-eyed guy had similar powers to Saiyaman and seemed a lot older than him. Plus Saiyaman himself told me that I could learn it myself, so it isn't exclusive to Aliens or gold-haired Super humans. Which means that Saiyaman isn't the first person to use these powers…"_ she felt she was onto something. She thought that SOMEONE must know something. She typed in "Saiyaman's powers" into the Capsule Corp search engine and kept going through every page to find what she wanted. Page after page of results flew by as she began to do it more out of habit. She was beginning to believe there was nothing to be found and she felt depressed that she wouldn't get trained by Saiyaman after all. It was right at that moment that an article caught her eye. It read "Saiyaman a Turtle School master?"

As she clicked on it and was directed to the website her first impression was that it was some kind of conspiracy theorist nesting ground, and she was tempted to close it and give up for the night but out of curiosity she read the opening paragraph and found herself quickly hooked and writing notes.

 **If you've not been living under a rock these past few days, no matter where you're from, you'd have heard of Saiyaman. The golden-haired superhero saving Satan City, and its quite obvious that he is capable of fantastical feats of strength and speed, as well as the trademark Super Hero ability, flight.**

 **But after monitoring footage closely of Saiyaman, its quite evident that he has an astounding amount of skill in the Martial Arts. *GIF image of Saiyaman striking criminals in nerve systems and pressure points in slow motion on CCTV footage***

 **With this knowledge in mind, we were forced to ask ourselves, "Is Saiyaman just a biological phenomenon, born with Super human abilities? Or has he merely trained his body beyond its limits to achieve total control of his being?**

 **Now a long time ago, before this latest generation was born, there were Martial Artists who could display similar abilities to Saiyaman's, none more renowned than The legendary Turtle Hermit Master Roshi.**

Videl knew that name very well. He was revered widely as the greatest Martial Artist who had ever lived.

 **Master ROSHI was the fabled inventor of the Turtle Style of combat. And though he trained very few pupils, each was notable and were powerhouses in many World Martial Arts Tournaments. Yamcha, Krillin, and most notably, Goku. Now judging on what little footage we have of both the tournaments, and of Saiyaman in action, we were able to piece together a comparison video of their techniques.**

Videl clicked the play button, still somewhat skeptical of it all. The first clip showed a young boy with wild hair challenging another boy, bald and with no nose. The video slowed down and zoomed in for emphasis on the punching and kicking techniques of both fighters. Then it played footage of Saiyaman taking on various criminals in slow motion and, to Videl's surprise, the techniques were almost exactly the same. Almost wasn't enough for one thing and it didn't really prove anything about Saiyaman other than he possibly learned a similar style.

She continued watching the videos and reading the article. Then she came across a video about the 'Kamehameha wave' and witnessed a blurry video of an old man with grey hair and a tall muscular bald man in a ring across each other. There was inaudible conversation between them until the tall bald one took a strange stance and brought his hands to his sides, a few moments passed of nothing until a ball of blue light began to form between his hands. He cast his hands forward and a tunnel of bright blue light soared from his palms right at his opponent.

Recognition flashed across Videl's features as she remembered seeing a similar but much smaller gold light pierce the chest of the criminal who almost killed her, from the finger of Saiyaman, then again when Tao had fired one at her and Saiyaman. Okay she was damn near convinced after that video. But there were more, she saw a video of the same bald man floating in the air using an ability called Baku-jutsu, this video had a close up and the camera stilled for a moment, and it was clear in that instant. And Videl recognised a much younger Tien. The same Tien who helped Gohan today. The same Tien who FLEW off with him. NOW she was convinced.

There were a few other videos and from them she learned that Tien, despite using the Kamehameha wave, was actually from the Turtle schools rival school, the Crane school. The Crane style featured many unique abilities, one of which being the Dodonpa. Which made sense once she saw that Tao was once a member of the school but was defeated all those years ago, which would explain why Tao and Saiyaman seemed to know each other despite being a generation apart.

There was a final paragraph and it set all of the pieces of the puzzle into place for her.

 **All the abilities you have seen here were achieved through a rigorous training that allowed them to physically manifest their energy allowing them to achieve incredible results. Based on the information we have on Saiyaman, it is likely that he is not simply strong and fast, but that he has pushed his body above and beyond its natural limitations to achieve what many would consider the impossible.**

Videl simply sat there looking at the screen for a while with her mind going blank. She had discovered so much from this one site that she found by complete chance. She wrote notes on all that she had discovered, memorized it and prepared it in a way that would make sense when she next told Saiyaman about her findings. She felt excitement fuel her every move, every thought, every smile. She just knew that with this much information there was no chance she wouldn't get training now.

The teenaged girl layed lower in her bed and turned the TV on, scrolling through the news channels she saw a surplus of stupid rumours about her and Saiyaman circling. On one hand she was pissed off and knew her father could become furious with her if he thought she was hiding a secret boyfriend from him, Super powers or not. On the other hand she felt like she understood the media and that from an outside perspective and based on the way she coddled and helped Saiyaman it may appear as if there were some secret relationship forming between her and the golden-haired hero.

Suddenly her TV lost signal. Videl attempted switching through channels but all of them merely showed static that flickered black occasionally. She stood up and walked out onto her bedrooms balcony, looking up at the roof and checking her antenna. It was perfectly fine, it wasn't crooked, there weren't any birds on it, it wasn't storming, she didn't understand what was wrong.

Right then she heard a voice from her TV and figured that the TV had started working again. The picture was still fuzzy and the sound was warbled. It was a dark room with a shadowed figure very close to the screen. She must have landed on a channel playing some old horror movie. She walked over to the remote on her bed and hit the button to change channel…only for nothing to happen. She tried again and found that every channel was displaying the same thing. _"What could be causing ZTV to play the same program on every-"_

"Greetings inhabitants of Planet Earth" the deep, throaty voice of the shadowed man announced, sending chills through Videl's spine as she viewed what appeared to be a near-exact imitation of the announcement of the Cell Games 7 years ago. She closely scrutinised the man's features.

He was largely hidden in Shadow and the camera only encompassed most of his face. But she could make out a goatee on a strong jaw, a pronounced, sharp nose, thick protruding brow bones and shallow-set eyes with a calligraphic 'M' imprinted on his forehead.

"Who I am is not important, but rather, why I'm here is the part that matters. Surely by now many of you would have heard of the great devastation in West City and much more recently, Satan City. These events have intrigued me and so I have taken it upon myself to revive the once powerful Red Ribbon army in order to reach my ends." The nameless figure announced to the world. He paused to let this information sink in and sure enough it did, people everywhere perked up at the name of the Red Ribbon army, many remembering it from history books, and many more remembering their awful reign.

Meanwhile: Gohan's apartment

Tien and Gohan were on high alert in his apartment when the phone started to ring, Gohan walked over to it, keeping his eyes on the TV the whole time as he answered the call, "Hello?...Vegeta?...yea I'm watching the news, Tien Shinhan is here with me….Yeah I sense it too, this can't be good...Agreed, we'll meet on the lookout after this, gather up who's left." At that Gohan hung up the phone, he looked at Tien who hadn't even needed to hear the conversation to know, he simply nodded at the adolescent hero and turned back to the screen.

"Today you all experienced the technology we possess in the form of a group of murderous androids who attacked the Satan City Police Station. And your hero Saiyaman experienced a much larger example. Soon we will begin sending more and more of these machines to attack the city, so you'd best prepare yourselves for war. We will take the city if you do not resist, and we WILL kill indiscriminately. Ready yourself Earth, the age of the Majin is upon you." The figure said forebodingly before the transmission was abruptly cut and the massive evil presence disappeared from Gohan's 6th sense. Worse was that Gohan recognised that Ki, as he had sensed it very recently and forgotten about it, worse still, was that this time he got a clearer reading on the Ki, and it was greater than Cell...

3 Weeks Later: A large battle in downtown Satan City

Ever since the appearance of the first few robots who sprung the criminals free from Prison and injured Saiyaman, the police department had been forced to take it up a notch. Saiyaman took a retrieved firing arm from one of the robots to a "genius friend" of his and returned with dozens of similar weapons all military grade with the Capsule Corp stamp of approval. Apparently Capsule Corporation had supplied the World Army and every other major police station on the planet with these weapons. As it turned out the weapons fired some kind of ionised bolts of plasma, extremely dangerous and far more effective than bullets against both human, and machine. Within the police department a special taskforce was formed to combat the growing threat of trained mercenaries and killer robots, now revealed to be the muscle of a resurgence by the Red Ribbon Army. The task force was labeled 'A.R.R.A.F' or 'Anti Red Ribbon Army Force'.

Downtown Satan City was currently the battleground of one of many battles being fought worldwide against the criminal/machine threat. The Red Ribbon army had supposedly sprung free criminals all over the world and sent them back out to fight for their cause, highly trained, and with that same tattoo on all their foreheads.

A small group of men huddled behind an armored vehicle, firing off when they could at the invaders. "We can't hold them off they just keep pressing! They aren't afraid enough of death to stay behind cover and wait!" one of them screamed over the noise. The highest ranking soldier in the group peeked over the hood of the car and sure enough the enemy kept advancing constantly.

"Then we need to halt their advance with more than suppressive fire, shoot to kill! Stay on me we're going to flank them!" he barked, getting nervous expressions and dutiful nods from the men in front of him. On his command they charged out from behind the vehicle and moved to the right of the field. Several bolts flew over and around them as they moved into position, opening fire on the advancing enemies who were quickly eliminated by the heavy flanking fire. One managed to get a shot off back at them and it struck one of them in the shoulder between the plating, searing right through his arm and hitting his comrade behind him square in the chest, killing him.

While the first man writhed and clutched at his arm the ranking officer radioed in with his sitrep.

Videl Satan was in an evacuated multi-story apartment building right next to their forces fighting down on the street. She was armored up like some kind of Special Ops soldier in silver alloy-plated armor over a black padded body suit that supposedly could withstand glancing or small fire once or twice with only minimal injury to the wearer. She was being briefed on her objective as she looked out the window down at the chaos.

Blue and Red bolts streaked back and forth from the battle field, scorching walls, flesh, metal and anything else it touched. And she pitied the injured and dead. She had been called out of class over 2 hours ago as she was suited up for her mission but she had been distracted.

Gohan hadn't been to school the past few days. She and the blondes had noticed a slight change in Gohan's demeanor over the past few weeks, ever since the broadcast. He seemed much more stressed and tired, but he still hung out with them frequently and talked to them online when he could. But he had entirely disappeared these past few days and she feared he had been hurt or worse.

But she would have to look into it later because right now they needed her and her team to secure the building across the street and to their right to gain a foothold over their enemy. They put their helmets on, which were essentially dome-topped Spartan helmets of the same silver metal that covered the whole head and face except for an inch-and-a-half wide glass covered slit that they saw through. It had a built in HUD with heat scanners and a radio system. The small team zip-lined high over the battle field onto the roof of the slightly shorter multi-story building. They detached from the lines and primed their weapons as they crept to the access door on the roof. They opened the door almost silently and quietly made their way down the stairwell to the floor below them. As they reached it they found themselves in a big empty hallway that was lined with doors and other hallways.

"Videl, my heat scanners are picking up this floor as empty, but there's a fair amount of life on the floor below us." Someone told her from behind. Looking down and switching her heat sensor on, she indeed saw signatures below them, some milling about, others being still, there was about 12 in total. Videl had a team of 7 in total, including herself, they had the element of surprise, they could pull this off.

"According to the floor plans that is some kind of lobby, but where those 2 heat signatures on the side are separated from the group, they're down a long hallway and through 2 sets of doors. They shouldn't hear our plasma rounds as long as we only hit them." Videl calculated in her head. Hearing affirmative responses from her team they made their way down the next flight of stairs and came to a 'u bend'. They were around the corner and down the hall. Videl signaled with her hand to one of the others and they moved up to the corner and pulled out a snake cam. She placed it on the floor and slid it out around the corner, pulling out a monitor. The two guards were facing away from them.

Videl ordered her team to stay where they were but to keep their weapons ready incase it all went wrong. Through experience sneaking into criminal encampments, she had learned that if ambushed they generally attempted to defend themselves for 5-10 seconds before their judgement caught up with them and they thought to run off and tell the boss, so she told her team to take care of it if she took more than 7 seconds after engaging them.

She handed her rifle to someone else and took only her side-arm. She could just shoot them both in the back but every shot they took risked them missing and hitting a wall or the roof, which would be very loud and distinct and attract the others' attention. Plus she would really rather avoid killing anyone. She had avoided it until now and she aimed to keep it that way.

Videl snuck up behind them until she was only 15 feet away and then bolted at them as quick as possible. They heard her and began to turn to face her and she jumped, landed feet-first on the door between them and crouched, absorbing all the force, negating any real sound. She immediately launched off at one and wrapped her arms around the head of the one on her left and yanked him headfirst into the ground, incapacitating him. The other turned to point his gun at her and she arched her foot up and kicked the gun out his hands. She rolled over her back onto her feet and blocked a punch and immediately felt massive force behind the blow. She ducked a wide swing and while crouched used her forearms to stop a low kick aimed at her head. The force of the kick threw her sprawling across the ground. She watched the killer charge her and her shaking hand glided down her side to her pistol holster and she pulled it out as the man picked her up by the plating on her shoulders, clamping her arms to her sides. She felt herself pinned against a wall and in a completely instinctual reaction she bent her arm at the elbow and fired into her assailants gut, his grip on Videl loosened and so the heroine planted her feet against his chest and pushed off, loosing several blue bolts of plasma into his torso as she fell.

As she lay there breathing deeply she was subconsciously aware that she had just killed someone for the first time in her life. Consciously however she refused to acknowledge that now as she had a job to do. She quickly got to her feet as her team came running down the hall to her, asking if she was okay. With an affirmative nod they continued through the doors and down the hallway beyond them where they came to the last set of doors before the lobby. They primed their weapons and breached the door, finding themselves in a nice dining area lined with dozens of tables, chairs and dim lit candles. They're sudden entry caught the men inside by surprise, and before they could even react 3 of the remaining 10 men were shot by members of Videl's team. A retaliatory shot flew past her helmet and contacted a wall behind her, throwing small debris and a loud bang throughout the room. One of the larger men in Videl's group grabbed a long table near them and pulled it on its side to provide 4 of them with cover. Videl was not close enough and with the help of her other two comrades they pulled up their own table, but right as they moved to duck below it a bolt struck the woman on her right in the throat area. She didn't even get the chance to scream as she was killed instantly. Videl attempted to ignore it and took cover. Heavy fire began being flung across the room. It was then that Videl realized she never took her rifle back and was limited to her side arm. She looked to the other group of her team just in time to see a bolt break the table and shower the larger guy who pulled the first table with wooden shrapnel, hitting him in multiple places between his armor plating. The thick padding saved him however he was stunned and failed to move away from the hole in his cover, causing him to be struck center mass by a following blast. He survived but he was badly hurt. Videl retaliated with several haphazard blasts at the enemy, only one of which hit a target, but it did succeed in killing them.

A shot hit her forearm suddenly and luckily it was on such an angle that her armor ricocheted it to a wall, but her arm still felt the force and she was thrown on her side, luckily staying behind cover. She watched in a daze as the doors around them opened and dozens of the androids poured in, viciously gunning down 3 of her men and injuring the last 2. She reached up to change frequencies, "Videl to Base, it's a trap, abort mission, I repeat-" but before she could finish a man yanked her helmet right off her head, tossing it aside and pointing his weapon right at her face.

But before he could even say a word a deathly silence filled the room, and then the a whooshing sound became audible and steady foot-steps broke the silence. Videl and her captor both turned to see what it was and saw a very pissed off, glowing-gold superhero. All the enemies simply stared at him for a long moment. "Well are you going to attack me or not?" he asked with a tone of bored frustration. At this comment they snapped into action and all charged at him. His scowl deepened for a moment before his eyes widened and his face twisted into a furious scream, the pressure of his anger and power crushing and throwing everyone away, against the walls of the room and across the floor and roof.

The last remaining man, pointing his gun at Videl's face only gawked in surprise and disbelief in what he had witnessed. Gohan walked right towards Videl and the man stepped out of his way to the side. Gohan stopped right at Videl before slowly turning his head to the man who grew increasingly nervous about his situation. Then, in a blur of motion, the son of Goku back handed him through a window on the far wall of the room where he fell to his death, screaming all the way. With that out of the way Gohan's expression softened and he bent down, offering a helping hand to the raven-haired raven-haired girl, "I need you to come with me Videl."

 _That's a wrap yo. This chapter is bigger for you guys because I had the time to write more for it, your welcome. I'm sure you'll be happy to know that by the time you read this I'll already have started off the next chapter. Also WHO WATCHED THE LATEST EPISODE OF DB SUPER!? IT WAS THE BEST SO FAR! *Spoilers start here so if you don't want anything spoiled for you then stop reading here.* God DAYUM was it a good episode! Vegeta's beat down on Frieza was awesome and the part of the Earth exploding and you see everyone dying in the explosion was really heart wrenching and well done. And then my personal favorite part of the episode, Gohan announcing that he wanted to start training again near the end of the episode. IT'S FINALLY HAPPENED. I was so hyped when he said that, I was like OH SHIT FOR REAL MAN!? Not even forced to train this time he decided all on his own that he wanted to get stronger, that shits DOPE! Anyway, until next time all._


	10. Chapter 10: Training montage

They had escorted the living members of her squad back to base after he first arrived. As Gohan carried the unconscious two and flew out the building over to the makeshift HQ across the street, Videl clung to his back and looked out over the battlefield. It looked flattened and torn apart, and the ripped, twisted and broken remains of the enemy lay scattered across the battlefield. Saiyaman had apparently cleaned up their mess.

After dropping off the injured the Saiyan swept Videl off her feet and shot into the sky again, flying faster than the speed of sound. Eventually, after flying at high speeds for 5 minutes, Gohan landed with Videl on the top of a massive building in the heart of the city after she yelled at him to set her down. She pushed against his chest and out of his hold. She felt a hard material under her hands and took a good look at Saiyaman and saw that he was wearing some kind of skin-tight deep Grey bodysuit underneath a white, plastic-looking armor that covered his whole Torso, with a dull gold section on his lower back, shoulder straps and abdomen. It was accompanied by White Gloves, and White Boots. (The new armor that Vegeta wears in Dragonball Super is being introduced earlier by Bulma. Vegeta will be wearing this armor from now on.)

Videl couldn't make out what the armor was made of but thought it suited the hero. "What's the problem!?" she asked him urgently, there must have been a reason he pulled her out here so quickly.

Saiyaman simply stared at her for a second before he looked like he remembered something and smirked at her, "Nothing, I Just wanted your exit to look dramatic and get the media talking." be revealed with a devilish grin, waiting for her to get mad and berate him like she usually did, but instead her face was overcome with uncharacteristic fury.

"YOU WHAT!?" she screeched, her voice so loud that Gohan fully cringed and covered his sensitive ears from her wrath, he did not envy Piccolo whenever Chi-Chi was around. "We're in the middle of a war on a new kind of terror, and you pull me away from my duty to make a scene?! You irresponsible self-centered bastard!" Gohan expected her to be angry but not like this, what was wrong? "You're trying to be funny and I took 2 human lives today! I killed people for the first time!" tears formed in her eyes and her knees and fists began to quake.

Gohan's face did an 'O' and he suddenly realized what was wrong. Without another word he stepped forward and pulled his friend into a hug, she struggled against him for a minute before giving in and crying against his chest. "I'm sorry Videl, I didn't think about the fact that killing would affect you…I'm so sorry." Videl stepped back from his hug, looking into his eyes, eyes that carried a great burden.

"Saiyaman…why _doesn't_ killing affect you?" he looked at her and opened his mouth to say something but she continued quickly so as to clarify, "I know you don't like killing, I can tell. But how do you do it with such ease? Like the man who tried to shoot me, you killed him in a heartbeat. Tao, you vaporised, that Alien you destroyed in West City. How does it come so easy to you, and without second-guessing or regret?" Saiyaman looked down and off to the side, brows furrowed. He looked like he wanted to say something but didn't know if he should, Videl pressed the hero a bit more, "What happened to you?" She asked, her tone low and pitying.

He seemed torn and wouldn't look her in the eye when he responded, "I don't want you to think less of me…" he admitted ashamedly to the girl before him. Videl saw that he was very close to spilling the beans and touched his arm, moving her head in the way of his vision and catching his eye

"You can tell me Saiyaman…we're friends, aren't we?" she asked him gently. He didn't respond immediately but eventually he nodded slowly and walked over to the edge of the building, sitting on the low wall there. Videl followed him and sat next to him. A part of her worried she would fall but her logical reasoning told her Saiyaman was far too quick to let her fall.

The super powered youth took a deep breath and released it, thinking about the best, safest way to tell her the story. "I've been forced into the life of a fighter since I was 4 hears old. My father, as I was going to tell you weeks ago, was like me. He was a great warrior and he protected the Earth for many years, but be was no Earthling. My Father was from an alien race far away from here, but that planet was destroyed when my father was only a baby. But before it could be destroyed, he was sent here. Only when I was 4 years old did my father find this out, and from that day forward my life was hell…" he paused now to let Videl take in what he had said so far, she looked with wide eyes and an open mouth, "Almost every single day of my life from the age of 4 to 9 was spent in combat with Warriors, monsters, Aliens and tyrants, and mixtures of all the above. It was always kill or be killed, and often my reluctance at the former nearly resulted in the latter. I was beaten and blasted, broken and crushed, constantly for 5 years and due to my dominant alien genes, it only made me more powerful. I'm desensitized to it all now." He finished his explanation, staring at the ground between his feet waiting to hear Videl's reaction.

For a moment he thought his worst fears would come true and she would react negatively but she placed a hand on his knee and gave a comforting squeeze, "It sounds like you've had it really rough. I can tell this isn't something you really like to talk about so I won't pry, but thank you for trusting me enough to tell me." She responded, sympathetically.

Gohan stood up and smiled at her, "I told you earlier this week Videl, you're quickly becoming my best friend." The grin on his face was bright and infectious, which was unusual for the normally stoic hero, but not unpleasant. It registered deep in Videl's mind somewhere that something about what be said was off but she wasn't going to question it right now, she was curious about something else.

"So why did you come to get me Saiyaman? You disappeared for weeks and all of a sudden you just popped up out of the blue and saved my team?" she asked him and his face furrowed a bit.

"Me and my friends with abilities have been researching and looking for the heart of this operation to try and put a stop to it." He began to explain and his expression was one of worry and concern, "The night of the broadcast there was an awful presence at the ZTV building. I sensed it myself, and it was a power greater than Cell's." that REALLY got Videl's attention.

"S-Stronger than Cell? A-Are you…sure?" she asked him, Cell caused such devastation, killed so many people, and if she was right about Saiyaman being the boy from the Cell Games, who still couldn't beat Cell outright, then they were in trouble.

"I'm positive, I fought Cell 7 years ago. I could never forget his awful power." Saiyaman confirmed, making Videl panic, "It's actually why I came to get you. I want you to be able to defend yourself or at least be able to escape if you run into this person on a mission. Weeks ago, you proved to me that you knew enough about how my abilities work, and as agreed I'll help train you. You'll be able to do much more good that way in any case." He revealed, and her face lit up.

"You mean it!? We're actually going to start training!?" At his nod she got fired up and excited, "Alright let's do this right now! I can handle anything you throw at me!" she challenged.

1.5 hours later: a grassy plain

After stopping at Videl's home so she could change and bring whatever clothes she may need under Gohan's instruction, the two sat cross legged in the green, lively, slightly windy plain. "Alright Videl, you've heard of inner energy correct?" Saiyaman asked her, at her confident nod he continued, "Energy resides in all living things, everything has some amount of energy, from people to animals, to trees and water. Once you've in essence, opened the flood gates to your energy you'll notice an instant increase in your power. You've accessed it subconsciously before, like in your fight against Tao. But we need to fully open up your Ki to make you effective at using it. First, hold your hands in front of you like you're holding a ball, and close your eyes." He instructed her patiently and watched as she did precisely what was asked of her. Gohan nodded in approval, "Good, now empty your mind, and reach deep inside yourself, to your core. You'll find your energy there." He explained, going quiet to allow her to try and relax.

 **1 hour later**

"This isn't working! Are you SURE everyone has this Ki stuff?" Videl asked impatiently at the silently meditating youth.

The teenaged hero responded to her without even opening his eyes or changing his position, "I'm positive Videl, you're too tense and you're thinking too much. You need to relax in mind and in body." He explicated with an airy, controlled tone to his voice. The girl before him merely huffed in irritation at that, he was right, she was irritable and it was making it difficult to concentrate. Then she realised that Saiyaman had talked to her while maintaining his concentration perfectly.

Videl cocked her head curiously at this, "Hey do I need to be silent to do this?" she asked him. He remained in his meditative state silently. Videl thought he didn't hear her and right as she opened her mouth he responded.

"It depends. While for most people being silent is the best way to relax and focus themselves, no technically it's not a requirement that you have to be quiet.

"Does the area around me have to be quiet?" she asked him, seeming to be leading up to something.

"No not necessarily. For example, I am able to focus while talking to you. In fact, hearing your voice is actually very comfortable and relaxing." He confessed without hesitation as he remained in his exact position.

Videl blushed slightly at that and looked away, but she was glad to hear that because his voice calmed her too, not like she was about to tell him that though! After all, she had already shown Saiyaman enough of soft Videl. She was friends with the teen titan but she had only known him these past few weeks and wasn't about to spill her life's story to this guy.

Seemingly satisfied with her answers she sat quietly, occasionally talking with Saiyaman, and listening to his voice when he responded to her. "Hey Saiyaman, there's something I figured out myself, but I was always afraid to ask. But you were at the Cell Games weren't you?" she asked him, before further explaining how she got to the conclusion she had reached, "The little boy who fought cell right?"

He hesitated but he eventually brought himself to be able to respond to her as he realised that she already knew from their conversations, truth be told, Gohan had been rather careless. But he couldn't help it whenever he was around this girl, she made him feel completely at ease for reasons he couldn't explain. So he manned up and confirmed for her what she already knew, "Yes Videl I was at the Cell Games, the little boy who fought Cell was me."

Just from his tone the girl could tell he didn't really like talking about it too much so she didn't pry, satisfied with her answer for the time being. She returned to being quiet for a little while before she tried to start another conversation. Time passed quickly but Videl hardly noticed. Videl asked Saiyaman what he thought of her and he seemed to struggle for an appropriate answer, which made her laugh openly at him. It was during this laugh when she was finally fully relaxed and she felt a warm, fuzzy, almost vibrating presence in the core of her body. Her jaw dropped at the feeling and she felt hope bubble up within her.

"You've found it, I can tell by your expression. Now, gently urge that feeling between your hands, to make it flow from your core to the space between your hands" he instructed her seriously but with a proud grin on his face for her achievement, "Remember you aren't trying to force it, you're willing it, coaxing it out." He added as clarification for the girl who sat in place in deep concentration, determined to get this down. She nodded dutifully and followed his instructions.

Shortly after a tiny little pink light sparkled between Videl's palms and a light breeze blew her hair around. "That's it! You're doing it!" Gohan exclaimed but at that moment she lost it and collapsed backwards, panting. Gohan winced as he realised he probably disturbed her concentration but as he attempted to apologise to her she seemingly anticipated him and preempted his apology, "Don't sweat it" she told him between gasps, "It wasn't you, I just got really tired all of a sudden." She explained. Gohan sighed in relief that she wasn't mad and nodded in understanding at her.

"You're out of energy, you'll need to rest it for a few hours before you try something like that again" he told her, standing up and dusting of his backside, "For now, we'll continue with hand-to-hand combat. I need to change out of my armor for this, you could break your hand if you hit it."

"But I'm exhausted! You just said that yourself!" Videl argued back at her slave-driver of a superhero teacher.

The Golden-haired teenaged rose an eyebrow at her, "Well if my training is too much for you…" the man never finished his sentence, he knew he got his point across when the girl huffed and got to her feet, falling into a stance. "Much better." He commented before picking up his bag. Suddenly he disappeared out of sight for 1 minute, before reappearing in a Navy Blue Gi with a Red sash, wrist and ankle warmers and plain Black Martial Arts boots. Saiyaman took his own stance, which Videl noted did indeed strongly resemble the Turtle Style. Shaking these thoughts from her mind, Videl charged at him with her fist cocked.

She launched her fist and he twisted his body, letting her charge right past him. Videl spun around and threw kick at his head that he caught by grabbing her shin only inches from his temple. She jerked her leg out of his grip and fired off a left cross to the gut that Saiyaman blocked by dropping his elbow before him and letting her fist hit his forearm full on. She hissed and recoiled her fist, before throwing a right hook that he danced just out of range of. She growled and pushed forward and got in close to him before jumping so her waist was at his head height and swinging her left knee in a hook at his cheek that he didn't even try to block. It hit his cheek full on and his expression didn't break at all. Her knee hurt a little too, adding to her already mounting frustration. Saiyaman grabbed her knee with his closest hand and his other hand grabbed her shoulder. He threw her over behind him. She flipped in the air and landed on her feet, frustrated that he was just toying with her and that her attacks hurt her more than him.

"You fucking coward! Why won't you FIGHT me!?" she screamed at him, her Ki rose very suddenly and she cast her hand out, pointing an accusing finger at him, accidentally firing a blast that hit him in the center of his chest, detonating with unnecessary force, blasting rubble and dust about, throwing her 6 feet backwards. She sat up as smoke billowed from the spot as she was showered with dirt and small docks, her mouth agape and her eyes wide with horror. _"N-no! I didn't mean to- I was just so mad and I- oh god what have I done?"_ she couldn't believe this, she felt fear, guilt, terror and sorrow. A deep rooted sorrow that tore at her heart and soul. One that she couldn't place or understand. But just then the smoke began to clear and fade she saw something she would never forget.

Saiyaman stood exactly where he had been, which was saying something as the ground he had been standing on was reduced to a 15 foot crater that was about 3 feet deep at the center. And yet he floated above the center at ground level as if it were still beneath him. His Gi top was half torn off and the half that was left was tattered and barely hanging onto his shoulder, revealing a great deal of his upper body, his Gi pants were mostly intact except his left pant leg was missing from just above the knee and the right pant leg had a large hole on the outer side of his mid thigh, where his knee was, and various other smaller tears throughout. His skin however, was unmarked entirely, his hair waved intensely and his eyes were narrowed at her as if she was one of the criminals he fought. Her initial attraction quickly turned into a cold feeling that crawled down her spine. She was so frozen in shock, fear and relief that she couldn't even open her mouth to say sorry.

"Be careful what you wish for…" Saiyaman muttered menacingly. He disappeared from her sight, fading into reality before her like a hologram. He was standing side on from her and lifted his hand to face an open palm at her, "HA!" he screamed, and a pulse of an invisible force sent her flying back from him, she hit the ground and bounced, rolling and spinning through the air uncontrollably before hitting the ground again, going through some thick bushes and headfirst into a body of water. She was incredibly dizzy and where she had hit the ground hurt, she tasted a little blood in her mouth that was quickly diluted with water. She slowly sunk head first into the water, unable to move properly. She hit the bottom fairly quickly and, looking up, she could still see the sun light shining through the water, and the shadow of what looked like a person, obviously Saiyaman. She saw a surge of water and bubbles at the surface and then a Golden light brighter than the sun lit up under the water even brighter. She saw a familiar pair of Black boots and Red legwarmers touch down next to her head and she felt her form be scooped up and be pressed against a warm body. She blacked out then, unable to go any longer without oxygen.

When she woke up it was dark, and she heard a fire raging not far from her. She felt pain everywhere and she felt a little cold. She was wrapped in something warm and so hugged it tighter as she sat up. She looked around and saw Saiyaman, in his Gi laying around not far from her. She stood up and walked over to him, and when she did he immediately sat up with concern written all over his face, "Videl! You're okay! Oh thank god!" he exclaimed leaping to his feet and checking around her face, "Good you don't seem injured. I'm glad." He said, with a relieved sigh.

She smiled at his concern and obvious care, for a minute she thought he'd never forgive her. And on that note… "Saiyaman…I'm so sorry about what I did and said. I never meant to tell at you like that, and I even blasted you! I'm so ashamed of my behaviour." She confessed to her teacher who looked at her dumbfounded.

"You're sorry!? I'm the one who should be sorry, you couldn't hurt me no matter how hard you tried. But me, I could have seriously hurt you, or worse! All because of my stupid ego. I should have known you didn't really mean it but its this damn transformation. My aggressive nature is far more prominent when I'm like this." He explained to her, rattling off self-criticism. But something he said caught her ear.

"Transformation? What do you mean transformation?" she inquired with a confused face at which he paled. This interested her even more, what about transformations? Why would they be important? What did that even mean in this context?

"Nothing!" he exclaimed very suddenly at her, making her raise a brow, this was just downright suspicious. But then something else came to mind.

"Hey Saiyaman, you've really changed a lot since we first met. At first you were this really cold, irritable and anti-social jerk" she told him, making him narrow his eyes and cross his arms in indignity, "But over time, though you still have streaks of your old personality, you just seem kind of…happier. Sometimes even a little goofy. I'm not complaining" she clarified holding her a hand out defensively, "But how'd that ever happen?" She asked.

The hero looked thoughtful about her inquiry for a moment, gazing up at the stars, "To be honest, it all started when I first met you." He admitted, catching Videl off guard and gracing her cheeks with a blush. "You're just like him, your personality brings out the best in people. I hate to admit it but you softened me up a little." He told her, not looking her in the eye as he looked skyward.

"I'm just like who?" the Raven-haired student asked her teacher, not following him.

"My father…" he breathed, his voice barely audible over the crackling of the fire between them. Videl's mind raced at that, that sounded familiar…very familiar. She had heard that voice tell her that before, but it hadn't been out of Saiyaman's mouth. Her grip on the blanket around her loosened as she realised that she knew Saiyaman beyond crime fighting. Right as her mind was coming to the revelation the sheet slipped from her fingers and Saiyaman's eyes widened further than she had ever seen from the sharp, narrow-featured hero.

His hand shot forward and grabbed the blanket and he pulled it back up over her shoulders in an instant, breaking her train of thought, "Videl don't let go of this!" he said with a voice that intended to be demanding but sounded somewhat urgent and pleading. With an internal sigh she figured she could leave her train derailed for a second and participate.

"Why not?" she asked simply with a slight frown. He immediately bit his lower lip and looked away, crossing his arms trying to seem nonchalant.

"Well, ahem. After I pulled you out of the water, I left you in your clothes, but with the wind you quickly started getting sick. I went to look for a change of clothes for you in the bag you brought but you…sort of destroyed most of what was in there with your blast. And all that survived was a pair of your underwear, that blanket, and a pretty sturdy capsule box, though I'm not sure how many capsules survived." He kept rattling on, telling the story like it was a novel and she was getting frustrated. By now she had noticed that the blanket was touching her bare skin. She has an idea of where this story was going, but she wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt and let him tell his perspective. But every second he stalled further irritated her and she was getting annoyed.

"Get to the point Saiyaman." She commanded through gritted teeth.

The man in question gulped noticeably and nodded dutifully, "Well I started a fire to try to keep you warm but it didn't help enough and I was afraid you'd get really sick" at this point he broke eye contact with her and looked at the ground, "So I uhhh, undressed you and uh….wrapped you in the blanket and laid you by the fire…" he finished quickly, clearly ashamed of having to say it out loud, but his eyes widened when he realised his choice of words, "Agh! But I don't mean laid as in- I mean as in put, I PUT you by the fire." He added quickly.

Videl's face boiled over, "You STRIPPED me!?" she shrieked at the Saiyan, making him wince at her volume.

"N-no! You make it sound so dirty! I just didn't want you to get too sick. I tried waiting for you to wake up so you could do it yourself, but you kept getting worse, so I saved you." He defended, "Besides, I didn't look!" he explained.

"The HELL you didn't!" She refuted, "Admit it! You were peeking at my naked body!" she insisted.

"But I DIDN'T! I'm a warrior and a defender of the Earth! The ulterior motives you're suggesting are beneath me!" he argued back, refusing her with a proud tilt of his chin.

"Oh so now my body isn't GOOD ENOUGH for you!?" she interrogated, "Well I think you should take another look and re-evaluate!" she demanded, making as if to cast the blanket off of her. Saiyaman covered his eyes with his arms and kept them covered for several long minutes in complete silence until he felt her tap him on the shoulder, "Hey, I was joking about that last part I'm sorry" she apologised, "Now will you please look at me so I can forgive you properly?" She asked him and he slowly looked up from behind his arms at the girl before him. "Good, now just due to the circumstances of this situation I will forgive you this one time, since I believe that you didn't look. But from now on you're out of chances buddy, whether you look or not, after this you're on your own, and I will knock you one, super powerful alien blood be damned." The adolescent crime fighter warned before she walked over to her stuff. Gohan, under the guise of Saiyaman, watched in curiosity as the girl rummaged through her capsule case, tossing out broken ones and sifting through the survivors. "Aha!" she eventually exclaimed, pulling out a particularly large capsule before clicking the button on top and tossing it far away from them but within a level clearing. There, with a *POOF* like magic stood a little domed Capsule house. Impressed, Gohan took a few steps closer to the home, looking around it, he saw the code on the building though and recognized it as a 1 bedroom capsule house.

"Videl this is a single bedroom one." He pointed out. He didn't say much but his face told whole stories, he did not like the sound of that.

"Yeah I know, it's the only house capsule that still works, sorry." She apologized, purposely doing her best to ignore the implications of this situation.

"No need to apologize, I'll just sleep outside, not like it'll be the first time." He reasoned with a shrug, walking back towards the fire.

"Wait no! I can't let you sleep outside on the floor! If the 1 bedroom house is an issue then we'll just stay at my mansion, you could fly us there!" she suggested but received a simple shaking of the head from the stoic man across from her.

"No, as part of your training you'll be living away from the distractions of civilization entirely." He told her, laying down the law.

"Well I'm not letting you sleep out here! You could get eaten by a dinosaur in your sleep or something!" She reached out and grabbed his Gi and her hand felt cold and damp, it occurred to her suddenly that Saiyaman mustn't have changed clothes, "Is your Gi still wet!? You could get Incredibly sick! Why didn't you change!?" She questioned pushing him back towards the fire and sitting him down.

"You blew up my bag too. I have nothing else with me." He explained to her and she felt even worse.

"Well why not strip down to your underwear to let it dry." She questioned, trying to figure the way this guy thought.

"No need, where my father comes from we can't catch 95% of diseases and illnesses on this planet." He told her calmly, making her jaw drop, "Besides, I didn't want to make you uncomfortable by being near-naked when you woke up."

She sighed at his over-thoughtfulness but figured if he couldn't get sick then it really didn't matter, still… "Well you aren't sleeping outside, amongst the animals in torn up cold wet clothing, get your ass inside." She commanded which made Saiyaman grumble in irritation and stalk towards the building with his arms crossed.

"I'm sleeping on the couch!" he declared with authority, "Take the bedroom for yourself." He told her with a much more suitable tone.

 **Meanwhile: Somewhere on Earth**

"My lord, it has been 3 weeks and the constant conflict has only drawn a total of 200 Killis. At this rate we'll never get enough energy t-"

"I'm aware welp! But what I'm not aware of is how we only have such a small amount of power after 3 weeks of conflict!" the one in charge roared at his subordinate.

"Uh well, you see it's that Saiyaman and Videl Satan. Together they and their allies have been able to prevent most of our larger attacks without sustaning damage. However Saiyaman is especially interesting! Look at these readings our meter picked up from him." The grunt explained offering his master the chart that showed their readings.

The large man looked over it for some time before his eyes widened in surprise, "3000 Killis!? In one fighter!? How can that be? Earth shouldn't have any fighters with that much power!" he declared in disbelief.

"Will you have us engage this fighter master?" he asked him, not receiving a reply immediately.

After some thought the large being seemed to make a decision, "No, you'll be slaughtered. But a fighter of that magnitude would surely attend the upcoming tournament the humans are hosting. From there he and all his friends will be gathered and we get as much energy at once as possible." He said slowly, his plan slowly being laid out before him in his mind. He chuckled darkly at the genius of it all as his subordinate ran off to make the preparations.

 **7 days later: With Gohan and Videl**

Gohan, still in his same torn Gi, bobbed and weaved around Videl's barrage of attacks. By now he had taken the Red weighted shirt that came with his Gi and given it to Videl, as well as his wrist and ankle warmers to help her in her training. The wrist bands were 4 Kilos, the ankle warmers were 6 each and the shirt was 10. The first time she put it on she could barely move but now she was beginning to get used to punching and kicking.

She lashed out with every form of attack possible, all forms of fist, foot, elbow and knee strikes were incorporated into the attacks. Determined to eventually lay a blow on him.

In the last 7 days she had learned how to draw on her Ki to fire blasts, fly (albeit not very high and not very fast), and she was even beginning to understand how to raise her power with her Ki.

Videl threw a crazy punch that Saiyaman caught without an issue, "You're getting better Videl." He complimented, ducking the girl's spinning heel kick and jumping over her leg swipe. "You know the Tournament is in 1 more week, you can enter if you like." Saiyaman offered to her.

"Will you be entering?" she asked him curiously, receiving a chuckle from him.

"Without any of my friends going, there frankly won't be a point, I'd just tear through the competition. None of my friends really want to go that much, even though I think it'd be cool." Gohan said with a hint of wistfulness in his voice.

" _ **It's okay Gohan! I'll come to the tournament with you!"**_ called an echoing, all-too-familiar voice in Gohan's mind. Videl was left looking everywhere, her whole being in defense mode when her master suddenly perked up. Saiyaman however looked straight up at the sky with a big awed expression on his face. She waited for Saiyaman to do or say something but it almost looked like he was having an emotional conversation in his head.

" _ **You're coming back for a whole day!?"**_ Gohan replied telepathically through the link King Kai set up for them.

" _ **Yeah, the day of the tournament no less! I have really missed you all, everyone who's up here has. So the fact that we'll get to come to the tournament with you sounds great."**_ Goku's excited tone rang out, followed almost immediately by his signature cheeky chuckle.

Gohan almost smiled at the sky like an idiot about the memorable sound. He was incredibly surprised to hear that his Father and the other fallen Z-Warriors would be returning to Earth for a day due to all the time they spent fighting for good.

" _ **Man wait till I tell everyone, they'll DEFINITELY go now, you're like a drug for those guys Dad."**_ Gohan remarked bemusedly, _**"Seriously though, I've missed you father. I'm glad I'll get to see you again."**_ He admitted to the sky.

" _ **I've missed you too son. I'll see you tournament day."**_ Goku replied before the telepathic link was cut by King Kai.

A small grin crossed Gohan's face. He would see his dad again, he was still a little guilty about what happened during the fight with Cell but it was no issue. "What was that about!? I've been calling you for ages!" Videl yelled at him, reprimanding the boy for his complete snub to her. Be turned to her with a happy expression that caught her slightly off-guard.

"My dad's coming back to life for the tournament!" He explained excitedly and be picked her up and spun her around with a laugh. Videl freaked out at his hands on her waist and blushed furiously, but her embarrassed rage was overshadowed by her curious nature.

"Coming back to life!? Is that even possible!?" she questioned in bewilderment, all of this was just too outrageous. Obviously the answer was yes as Gohan didn't even respond to that question and moved on all together.

"Come on Videl, back to training! I need to make you as strong as possible before this tournament." He told her which made her refocus instantly and nod her head in understanding, she could always interrogate him later. But his laugh just then sounded disturbingly familiar. She had definitely heard that laugh before but not from Saiyaman. As she attacked Saiyaman she kept getting flashes of memories. She remembered the time she went to Gohan's families home in the 439 region. His mother had shown Videl his old room.

She remembered looking around and noticing how immaculately clean Gohan's room was. It was all neat, tidy and ordered. He had a few framed pictures that she didn't really get to see properly, and he had a wardrobe on the far wall. The wardrobe was left open and within Videl saw, hanging up, a Navy-Blue Gi with a Red sash.

"Focus Videl!" Saiyaman yelled, blasting her with a kiai that sent her 6 feet back onto her ass.

"Hey!" Videl cried out with indignation that Saiyaman quickly halted with a palm held up telling her to stop.

"I'm sorry Videl, but your head wasn't in the game, it was somewhere else entirely. I needed to jolt you back to reality." He told her, before he looked off into the distance in apparent thought. He nodded to himself seemingly deciding on a course of action and he turned back to her "Videl perhaps it's best you have this day to rest, I've been working you pretty hard and perhaps you simply need some down time."

"What? No, no need, I'm fine, I was just thinking about something strange that's all, let's get back to training I'm fine I promise!" Videl urged, thinking that Saiyaman might be having second thoughts about training her.

"No Videl don't stress, sometimes even the best warriors need a rest day. Besides, I have some things I need to attend to. Supplies, new clothes and a message to deliver to some people. I'll be back in the morning" He told her and she sighed in resignation.

Videl nodded at what he was saying and watched as he lifted off into the sky and disappeared in a Golden blur. She huffed as her training had to be postponed and headed inside. She noticed that she could actually kind of…FEEL Saiyaman. Or his energy or whatever. She had heard him say stuff about sensing people before, so this must be it. It's like she had a radar in her mind that would ping every now-and-then and she could actually feel the general direction he was in. It was a strange feeling but she definitely liked it. For now though, she would rest. Videl settled into bed and her exhaustion from constantly training and pushing her limits caught up with her, lulling her into a blissful sleep.

 _Alright everyone that's yet another chapter out of the way. I've been getting some PM's asking me if I intend to do the Broly scenario and I suppose I could fit him in the story if you want me to. However I should tell you that if I do this it'll kind of be done like the movie. I don't mean the events would be done like in the movie but I mean the fight would not have any effect on the main plot and would be a filler chapter of sorts. By this I mean if Gohan is gravely injured in the fight he will not get a Zenkai boost from it that would push his strength up from what it is now. But I can still do it if asked. It would give me more time to plot the finer details of the main story. Just tell me what you want._


	11. Chapter 11: Legendary Super Revelation

The PM's speak for themselves, people really like Broly for some reason, so here we go I can work with this. Now normally I wouldn't answer a review right at the start of the chapter but I had a very well thought out review from a guest that I'd like to respond to.

Guest: Trust me anon, I've worked out a way to make the fight plot-relevant and fit the story, Gohan still won't get a Zenkai as post Frieza Saga, Zenkais are pretty much non-existent so I don't have to plot armor that one thankfully, Toriyama already did it for me.

Also your powerscaling there was quite clever and well thought out but you made one crucial mistake. In the manga Gohan actually fought Dabura as a SSJ1, and Gohan wasn't fighting seriously. Babidi actually states that for some reason Dabura wasn't hurting Gohan with any of his attacks. Gohan was toying with Dabura. Later when Gohan powers up to fight Buu Dabura flees in terror from Gohan's blast. Dabura was much weaker than Cell in the manga.

M10 Broly did mess up a rusty SSJ2 Gohan, and this Gohan isn't exactly rusty so you're right that a SSJ2 Gohan in my story would beat movie 10 Broly. However Gohan cannot control his SSJ2 form in this.

And yes Dabura is much stronger in this fic then in Canon. To help you get a feel for where each character is at, I will release the power scaling I have written up at the end of this chapter.

Chapter 11: Legendary Super Revelation

Videl was staring at Gohan's wardrobe, at his Navy-Blue fighting Gi, exactly like the one Saiyaman wore. But why would Gohan have a fighting Gi? The guy was physically fit from what she could tell but a fighter seemed like a stretch for a straight A student.

Then her vision blurred inexplicably and she was talking to Gohan at the arcade. The day that he told her about his dad's death years ago, more specifically the part where he told her she reminded him a lot of his father. Gohan then faded into Saiyaman, his features hardening and his hair turning gold, "You're just like my father." Saiyaman repeated to her.

Then she was at school, talking to Gohan about some dumb movie she had seen, Gohan laughed but it was obvious he wasn't really in it and her paranoia immediately told her that Gohan didn't want to talk to her. This cut Videl and she turned to look at him, stepping in his path, "Look Gohan, if you don't like me or want to avoid me at least have the balls to say something to me!" she told him snidely and his eyes widened in alarm. Truth be told the girl wasn't sure why she had been so upset over that. Furthermore she wasn't sure why she jumped to such a conclusion as he didn't like her when the obvious reason was that he was tired or having a bad day. But for whatever reason, on that day she reacted as she did.

"What?" he responded, looking like a deer in headlights, simply not understanding her sudden change in mood. He realised he was being fairly quiet and grave but come on, "No Videl I enjoy your company a lot, I'm just stressed out lately. I'm sorry." He responded very sincerely.

Videl was a bit embarrassed about her false accusations but was also happy that Gohan liked her after all, "So…we're friends then?" she asked tentatively, making the worried expression on his face drop immediately from the question, and he replaced it with an endearing smile.

"Videl, I've only know you a few short weeks, but even so you are quickly becoming my best friend…" Gohan answered her, making her heart flutter.

Again the scene changed to Saiyaman, but a much more recent memory, during her training. "I told you earlier this week Videl, you're quickly becoming my best friend…"

The images in her mind of Gohan and Saiyaman began to meld together when a flash of pink crossed her vision and killed Saiyaman, his lifeless body lay surrounded by his blood on a grassy floor, his Gold hair reverting to Black and revealing Gohan underneath. Videl sat up in bed suddenly in a cold sweat, her dream was still very clear in her mind… "Saiyaman…" she murmured to herself.

 **Meanwhile: with Goten and Trunks**

"Can you see it Trunks!?" shouted the innocent little voice of what could've passed for Goku being turned into a child again, perhaps by the Dragonballs, but any story that something like that happened in would be stupid and likely not made by the original author…

But no this little look-a-like was not the product of a wish made on entirely new Dragonballs that were made for the convenience of the show. In fact he was the second son of the late hero Son Goku, and the younger brother of the current hero Son Gohan. He and his best friend, the son of the Saiyan Prince Vegeta, were out on an adventure to find the Dragonballs and to make new friends and experience the world.

Also apparently to wake up extremely powerful plot-convenient non-canon super villains who happen to recognise that the aforementioned second son of Goku is just like him in every way, which in the case of a hibernating, certain Legendary Super Saiyan, is VERY annoying.

"Goten I swear if you ask me that question one more time I'll get my dad to beat up Gohan!" Trunks threatened which caused a look of fury to overcome the little look-a-likes face.

"Uh-uh!" Goten refuted childishly, "Mom says that Gohan is the one who beat Cell, who beat up your dad easy! Gohan is the strongest there is!" Goten argued loudly, defending his brother's honor.

"7 years ago maybe" Trunks remarked smugly, "My dad says that your brother is a wimp nowadays, and that he's barely gotten stronger in all these years. My dad says he's surpassed Gohan but is waiting for the right time to reveal it." Trunks responded with his nose in the air and his arms crossed.

Goten started to tear up now, "Your dad is LYING! My brother is NOT a wimp!" he weakly replied, sniffling.

Trunks frowned and responded meanly, "Hey! My dad doesn't lie, just accept it, Gohan's fun but he's a loser. My dad said when Gohan was our age he wasn't CLOSE to how powerful we are now. We're probably almost as strong as your brother now."

"SHUT UUUUP!" Goten screamed diving at Trunks and tackling him out of the air. They rolled through the air as they plummeted, smashing into the ground and causing a large crater to be formed.

"DON'T. TALK. BAD. ABOUT. MY. BIG. BROTHER!" Goten screamed, punching down at Trunks who he was sitting on. The screaming stirred a sleeping titan not far from the two of them. Trunks jerked his head away from the first punch, watching the fist sink into the ground next to his head. He pulled his arms up to defend from the next few, each blow creating shockwaves that rocked the area and fully awakened the groggy murderer under the ground. The final punch snuck through Trunks' guard and hit him on the cheek.

Trunks growled at the pain and the indignation of being hurt by someone weaker than him. He retaliated by grabbing Goten by the throat and throwing him off him to the side. They both leapt to their feet when they heard a sudden war cry.

"Kakaroooot!"

The two looked around confused, wondering what the hell that meant when they both felt an absurd power skyrocket beneath them. Two hands burst out of the ground and grabbed a leg of theirs each.

"What the hell!?" Trunks exclaimed in panic, trying to tug his leg free as did Goten. Suddenly a body broke the surface of the ground beneath them, shooting upwards while still holding their legs he pulled them up into the air and they managed to get out of his grip, righting themselves in the air.

"Hey! What's the big idea!?" Goten cried out, clenching his fists at the tall, muscular, Black haired assailant.

"You! You cry, and you scream and you keep me awake! I will KILL you this time Kakarot!" Broly roared in response, he threw his head back and cackled like a madman.

"I don't like the sound of this guy Goten!" Trunks admitted, making Goten nod in agreement.

 **Meanwhile: with Videl**

She was just finishing her breakfast when Videl felt 2 Ki signatures, one of which was familiar, and a terrifying 3rd Ki. At first she thought she was imagining it but she started feeling large rumbles and shockwaves. "What the hell is going on out there?" Videl asked herself aloud. She was tempted to go check it out but part of her told her to wait for Saiyaman to come back. But her curiousity got the best of her and the crime fighter found herself flying towards the energies.

As she got closer the shockwaves became more intense and she could feel them shaking her to the bone. She pushed on however coming to a mountainous region very close to the battle. Videl landed on a plateau in order to give herself a moments rest when she saw it.

Her jaw hung in horror as she watched a large, muscular and angry grown man massacring two young children. The man obviously had abilities like hers as he was flying in the air and he grabbed one by his Orange Gi top, before pelting him across the landscape where he smashed into a mountain alongside the one Videl stood upon.

She immediately flew down to where she had seen the child land and dropped to the floor close by to him. She ran over and pulled some rubble aside to see a barely conscious, very familiar Black-haired child, "GOTEN!?" Videl shrieked in horror.

The boy in question opened an eye and looked her over a few times, seemingly not recognising her at first before his eyes widened in recognition, "Miss Videl!" he exclaimed in surprise, "No no no you have to get out of here its not safe!" Goten urged as he pushed himself into a sitting position with a frown on his face, "Its too dangerous for you run away." He pleaded.

Videl smirked at the child, "Maybe a week ago, but since I've started training with the Gold Fighter I've increased my power 5-fold!" she boasted, "I possess the same powers as him and I'm going to put him down for hurting you poor kids!" she declared in determination.

"Videl no…" Goten pleaded from behind her as Broly landed near them. But Videl was hearing none of it and marched right up to the sadistic child-abuser.

"You're in for a world of hurt buddy. I don't know where you learned all your abilities, but you should have never used them to commit crimes, I'm going to take you down!" Videl yelled, charging right at him. She punched him full force and it did little more than turn Broly's head. "What?!" Videl exclaimed in confusion, dashing back just in time avoiding a wide swipe by the crazed man.

Videl ducked a punch and weaved around behind Broly, throwing her leg into the side of his head from behind, again having little to no effect. He turned around and punched at Videl and she managed to get her block up just in time, but the blow still threw her 20 feet back. She hit the ground and rolled backwards onto her feet, "Alright asshole I didn't want to have to do this! But you leave me no choice!" she remarked angrily and charged at the larger fighter. Right as she looked like she would ram into her opponent she jumped and somersaulted over his head just in time to avoid his lunge. She landed and turned herself to face Broly's exposed back and gathered all of her Ki together, "HA!" she bellowed, unleashing a large short range burst of energy that completely engulfed Broly. Her attack gouged at the ground before her and blew everything away.

Goten and Trunks stood beside one another shielding their faces from debris, "My brother sure did train her good!" Goten remarked over the roar of the blast.

Videl cut the flow of energy and let her arms drop to her side, she had put all she had into that blast and she was thoroughly exhausted. "There, that should leave him unconscious.."

But as the smoke cleared Broly stood his ground with very minor scratches, and a grin on his face. "Impossible!" She ground out, but could do nothing to defend herself from the swift cross to the jaw he dealt to the teen. She flew back and smashed into the ground hard.

"Agh, Videl!" Goten was panicking now as he watched Broly approach her barely conscious form, "Trunks we gotta save her, or Gohan will KILL us!"

"Right, let's go Gold then!" Trunks declared, earning a nod from his friend.

Both young fighters transformed into Super Saiyans and shot at Broly before he knew what was happening, "Stay BACK!" Goten bellowed as they rammed him full force in the gut, knocking him back through multiple mountains, they gave chase immediately. Broly regained his balance in time to watch Trunks' fist hit him in the face, he was jerked back by the blow but had no recovery time as Goten immediately kicked him in the back. The Legendary warrior careened helplessly in the air when both boys dropped an axe-kick on him, sending him hurtling to the ground.

The two boys looked confused, he seemed really weak but they were sure they had felt-

"KAKAROOOOOOT!" the strange man bellowed, tearing the landscape apart as his rage-induced screaming turned his hair gold and his eyes Teal.

"Agh Trunks! He just went gold too!" Goten cried in disbelief of what he was saying. He was under the impression that only the people in their family could do it. Broly charged back at them and now they could see where they had sensed his power from.

 **Meanwhile: With Gohan**

He streaked across the skies in his fresh, spare Blue Gi. He had told everyone about the tournament and they all said that they would enter now which he was happy to hear. But then he felt something…something familiar. Gohan's eyes widened at the battle he was feeling and surpassed the speed of sound 4 times over.

 **Back with the others**

Broly slammed Trunks and Goten together violently before tossing each one away. They landed on their feet just barely but nothing they did was stopping this guy. "Goten! Blast attack! Let's Go!" the young billionaire directed urgently as they both charged their moves, firing massive blasts at their attacker but with a scream the massive bulky figure formed a bubble of dense Ki around himself as protection. The attacks detonated on his defenses and exploded, the shockwave tore up the top layer of soil in the area, parting nearby clouds.

Goten and Trunks panted with exertion and waited. Had they managed to defeat the monster? A quick reach-out with their Ki would have quickly told them no but in true Dragonball Z fashion they failed to do as such and instead used their lesser refined senses to try and spot Broly in the smoke.

Suddenly he burst through the haze and kicked the son of Vegeta between the ribs, he followed this attack by slamming him into the ground and stomping him deep in.

Goten's face was contorted in fear and rage at seeing his friend hurt so badly. Goten charged and punched the tall man repeatedly but alas his attacks had no effect. A massive arm swung at him and he tried to block the punch but the sheer physical strength broke through his defenses and hit him across the sky like a baseball.

 **With Gohan**

Gohan by now had just reached the battlefield and saw all the destruction. He sensed a faint Ki nearby and steered in its direction, coming across a canyon, or rather what was left of one. He dropped down into the chaos and to the floor of a short ravine. Moving closer to the Ki he saw the familiar Raven-hair of his best friend. "Videl!?" he rushed over to her injured form that lay on the ground, going between conscious and unconscious periodically, she was hurt pretty bad but she'd be fine if given some rest. He crouched down and lifted her head off the floor gently. Her eyes fluttered open and a smile came over her face at the visage of the one-and-only Golden Super Hero.

"Saiyaman…!" she whispered hopefully with a smile before her face became pained and twisted into concern, "Saiyaman, please, he's going to kill those kids, you gotta…help…them…" and with that the girl passed out again. Gohan growled in anger, he had to end this.

 **With the boys**

Trunks landed an elbow on the top of his assailant's skull but it had no effect on Broly who retaliated by grabbing Goten and swinging him over his shoulder like a mace, putting Trunks in the wall of a plateau, whose hair returned to Lavender as he lost consciousness, his Gi torn all over and bleeding from several places. Goten was in similar shape as the sadistic Saiyan dangled the boy in front of his face by the ankle. Broly carelessly flicked his wrist and released the boy, reaching out with his other hand to fire a blast. He gathered the necessary Ki to kill the now Black-haired Goku look-a-like.

He fired the blast and just as it looked like Goten had met his end a boot connected with the side of the blast, launching it into the sky and away from the battle. Broly looked shocked as he stared into the eyes of another, this time older, Kakarot clone, only with shorter, spikier hair.

"Tch, I should have figured you'd find a way to survive Broly." The pissed off teenager remarked snidely. Broly cackled at that and Gohan's frown deepened.

"How are you even alive? You've been asleep underground without food or water for 7 years? This whole thing is so non-canon it hurts" Gohan said with distaste and confusion, his face softened as he looked over his shoulder at his little brother who was laying beat up but was obviously happy to see him. "Hey Goten, you guys did a great job holding him off until now, but I'll take it from here if you don't mind." He said cheekily to his little sibling who giggled at his big brother.

"Yeah! Take this jerk down a peg big brother!" Goten cheered making Gohan grin. Broly obviously decided that they had talked long enough and charged Gohan who, still looking at Goten, frowned and threw his body to the side just as Broly rocketed past him. Gohan got a foot on the ground and charged at Broly. The larger warrior had just gotten his feet back on the ground and spun around to face Gohan's attack. Gohan first threw a knee at his head which Broly side-stepped letting Gohan pass him. The younger warrior spun in the air to face Broly right as he threw a punch. Gohan used his far hand to deflect Broly's punch away from him and used the momentum to spin around and throw a heel kick at his opponent's head. It was ducked and the psychopath planted his hand in the ground and used it to support his body as he kicked at Gohan with both legs.

Gohan cross-blocked the move and was knocked higher into the sky from the force of the blow. He flipped back with the momentum and tossed a Ki-Blast like a baseball that struck, exploding in a large Cloud of smoke. Broly launched backwards out the smoke Cloud with a sadistic grin. "Wish I could do that…" Trunks remarked, internally groaning as he realised Gohan was a lot stronger than he thought.

Looking up to where Gohan should be, Broly's face fell at the lack of Goku's son in the sky there. The large Saiyan felt a presence behind him and he heard a voice. "Psst, Broly…" he spun around now throwing a huge punch that Gohan blocked with his forearm at the larger man's bicep.

Broly realised that the boy had breached his reach advantage and moved in close to him for a better offensive. Broly saw a blur and suddenly a fist was planted between his lungs and colon. He found himself gasping for air and stumbling backwards, doubled over. He forced himself slightly straighter and glared at Gohan, who was standing with his arms at his sides and a blank expression. Broly mistook him for being off his guard and lunged at him but felt the toe of a boot hit him in the chin, launching him skyward.

The giant regained his balance and threw a retaliatory blast downwards that Gohan merely phased away from as it passed through where he just was. Gohan appeared behind him and launched a flying knee into the back of his neck, he zipped around in front of his opponent and Gohan rotated his whole body with a massive hook to Broly's face that sent him flying. The punch turned Gohan all the way around he had to look over his shoulder to see where Broly went. The young fighter grinned and disappeared, phasing into reality parallel to Broly, looking him in the eye. Broly couldn't stop his movement from the punch yet here this kid was flying in line with him, hovering over him like a shadow, and he HATED it. Gohan front-flipped while keeping up with Broly but extended 1 leg heel-first. This front-flip axe-kick hit Broly in the center of his chest, rocketing him into the harsh Earth beneath him.

"Hmph, Broly's regular Super Saiyan form has never been impressive, but for me to be dominating him like this?" the golden-haired youth bemused as he dropped to the crater and pulled Broly out the ground by his hair. The taller warrior was held up to Gohan's face level. Suddenly 1 of the Legendary Saiyans' closed eyes snapped open and be threw a punch at Gohan's face which was caught in Gohan's free palm.

Broly began stammering nervously as Gohan pulled him up higher and let go, bending sideways and side-kicking Broly in the stomach across the battlefield, "Hmph, guess he doesn't plan to go all hulk on me…" Gohan remarked as he stalked over to the legendary Super Saiyan crumpled on the rock floor of the canyon. Gohan began gathering the energy to end Broly once and for all but he suddenly heard mad cackling from the floor.

Broly struggled to a stand and Gohan noticed his pupils were gone, "Ahhh shit…" he muttered as dense Green/Gold energy began pulsing from the psycho.

He watched as Ki rushed throughout Broly's body, blowing up and stretching his muscles like balloons, a wild scream pierced the air and the land began to be torn up, the debris from it all rising as if experiencing zero gravity. Gohan took a step back and bent his stance lower and wider for better balance against a wave of such power. Gohan withstood it all but had to shield his face from debris and intense waves of energy.

When the scream faded and the energy receded Gohan was left standing before a hulk of a Saiyan Warrior, wild hair ablaze with Legendary Super Saiyan energy. Gohan wasted no time in powering up to his maximum, his dull relaxed Super Saiyan hair burning a bright and vibrant gold as an aggressive aura burst to life around him. Gohan could sense that he was only roughly 75 percent of Broly at that moment. (In DBZ it is apparent that to be strong enough to 1 shot someone you only have to be 30% stronger, for example when Cui had a power of 18,000, Vegeta casually annihilated him with a power of 20 something thousand. So Gohan being 25% less than Broly is basically suicide to continue.)

Broly tanked Gohan's punch to the face and retaliated by grabbing the young warrior by the face and ramming into the ground, causing him to sink into the marked Earth. The larger warrior kept trying to push him deeper into the canyon floor and was succeeding despite the smaller Warriors resistance. Gohan got a blast into Broly's face which stunned him. Gohan maneuvered out of Broly's grip and flew up to face level, laying into Broly's head with haymakers. Broly was obviously hurt by the punches but he received no significant injury.

He lunged out and grabbed each side of Gohan's head and rammed his forehead into the teenager's. A cut opened on Gohan's forehead and a slow trickle of blood worked it's way down his face. Broly dropped Gohan before punting him like a football. Gohan flew off into the distance, ploughing through rock formations and Earth before coming to rest at the end of a long trench. He coughed up a mouthful of blood before forcing himself to his feet with a great deal of effort. _"Dammit, this crazy son of a bitch is ridiculously strong. At this rate I won't be able to beat him…"_ Gohan thought to himself.

He sensed Broly approaching him belligerently and so powered up and shot right at him. Landscapes blurred beneath the two as they rocketed right for each other. Broly cocked a fist back as he saw Gohan flying right at him, Gohan saw this and right as Broly threw it, he twisted his body and spun around Broly avoiding his attack. Gohan gathered energy in his hand, turned mid-flight and tossed a blast at Broly's back. Broly turned and backhanded the blast away but saw no sign of Gohan.

"HYAAAAH!" Broly heard someone scream. He looked up in time to see an axe-kick hit him on the top of his head. It hurt but he ignored it and gripped the smaller fighter by the throat and unleashed a cross with his free hand. Gohan drifted back a bit from the punch and brought his arms up to his left side just in time to block a kick that still threw him to the ground sideways. He hit the ground on an angle and reached out with his hand to break his fall, he sprung off his hand to his feet, his momentum causing him to slide a few dozen feet. He looked up to see the hulking mass of a fighter that was his opponent spear charging him head-first.

Gohan blocked it but he was sent FLYING backwards from the force of it, his speed as he flew along parallel to the landscape created a wind tunnel that kicked up dirt. Gohan back flipped and, leaning forward so his front was on a 45 degree angle to the ground, pushed his legs out behind him into the ground. They instantly dug in deep and he desperately tried to slow his momentum. He came to a stop 30 feet onwards and looked up just in time to see a the size of a beach ball coming right for him. He leaned forward again and put 1 foot forward to brace himself as he stuck his hands out before him, ready to catch the blast.

It made contact with his hands and he felt the immense pressure of the powerful energy. He was struggling to hold it at bay when it suddenly began expanding, and the energy began to feel erratic. Gohan's eyes widened and he dug his feet in, before using all his physical strength to guide the blast's trajectory into the sky. Using his own energy he pushed it to move even faster upwards. He could tell it still wouldn't be enough however and with a great bellow, he formed a protective barrier that completely covered the entire wasteland for miles in every direction. The blast exploded and he kept forcing Ki into the barrier, willing it to hold as the entire sky lit up as if the sun was as close as the moon.

He felt the power from the explosion, and knew that if he hadn't created this barrier, the entire wasteland would be nothing but a scorched crater, and if that blast had struck the Earth directly, there'd be no Earth to speak of. Gohan felt the blast subside and released his hold on the energy, falling into his base form and collapsing to his knees. He felt a shadow pass over him and looked up to see Broly standing over him with a sadistically pleased, though clearly sweating and tired, expression. He reached down and picked Gohan up, crushing him in a deathly tight bear hug. Gohan choked and yelled at the agony of feeling his bones roll and creak under the pressure of being crushed.

"G-Get off him!" a hoarse voice demanded and Gohan looked to the side and saw Videl standing there, knees wobbling, panting and barely conscious with her hand pointed at Broly. A blast came out and Broly deflected it as if it was nothing.

"You call that a blast?!" Broly taunted mockingly as she collapsed forwards onto the floor, slowly blacking out. Broly raised his own hand intending to finish off the girl.

Gohan roared in anger and with his free hand reached out and grabbed Broly's outstretched hand by the wrist, and yanked it away from pointing at Videl. Gohan got his left leg curled up to his chest and rammed his foot into Broly's face, causing the man to lose grip on him. He backflipped out the hold and landed on his feet, "I'VE HAD ENOOOUUUGH!" Gohan declared in rage as he turned back into a Super Saiyan. He pulled his hands to his side as his Aura blazed with fury in a bright light so intense you couldn't see past it. His hair was the brightest of all brilliant golds and to compliment it a bright blue ball of energy began to swirl between his palms. "KA!" he screamed before stopping a moment. Broly couldn't believe what he was seeing, the boy was back to full strength and then some! "ME!" Still, he hadn't surpassed Broly, so the larger Saiyan began gathering his energy in his own blast planning to destroy Kakarot and all the other welps on this planet. But Gohan had other plans.

"HA…...ME!" He continued chanting as the blue ball of energy expanded to the size of a basketball. Broly began to feel nervous and so tossed his blast with a sense of urgency that didn't suit the warrior. Gohan watched it approaching and decided it was now or never, "HAAAAAAAAA!" he screamed, unleashing a torrential wave of righteous Blue Ki. The energy attacks collided and a warbled sound created by the frequencies of two blasts of pure energy vibrating faster than the human eye could comprehend tore through the air of the wasteland and the resulting light show mixed with Green and Blue lit it up like the fourth of July. Broly grinned and Gohan frowned when they realised Broly still had the upper-hand in this clash. The two energy attacks were slowly drifting their way back towards Gohan and the Earth. He kept holding on but he could tell that the Earth was finished at this rate. He felt shame at failing to do the one job his father had entrusted him with when he died, shame at not training for so many years that he was unprepared for an opponent as powerful as Cell, shame at not even being able to control his power enough to ascend beyond a Super Saiyan due to his own redundant fears of his power.

Gohan then felt Goten and Trunks behind him looking solemn. They both had tears in their eyes before they looked at each other, nodded, and steeled their emotions, each placing a hand on Gohan's lower back and feeding their energy into him. Gohan's eyes widened as the two channeled their energy into his until they passed out on the floor behind him. These two kids were willing to give everything to him. It dawned on him that they somehow fully understood the situation despite being young children. This made him grimace and growl, these kids knew they were going to die and gave a pointless last-ditch effort to save the Earth. A sudden flash came across his vision and there was the smiling face of Trunks, begging Gohan to play with him, then there was Videl, laughing as she rested her head on his shoulder, then there was Goten…his little baby brother. His innocent, silly, happy little baby brother…and this bastard…wanted to take him away from Gohan.

Gohan felt his heart beat hard twice. Again, it thumped hard against his chest. He felt hot, painful energy creeping it's way through his veins from his core. He felt it wash over his body and stretch his muscles, burn his skin. He felt rage, rage like he had never felt before. Pure unadulterated fury that made every other outburst of anger throughout his short life seem like a mere temper tantrum in comparison. Unbridled hatred, his feelings for Cell were merely distaste when measured alongside what he felt right now. Right now he had to **destroy!**

With a warcry like an army of berserkers he unleashed all of his anger, all of his hatred and channeled it into his blast. The size of his Kamehameha wave doubled along with his power as he ascended for the barest of moments. But it was enough to overpower the menace that tormented him. Broly's eyes widened and his face clearly exhibited his terror and nervousness as his blast was quickly being forced back in his direction no matter how hard he pushed against it with his energy.

"No…no…NO! NOOOOO!" the maniac screamed in terror as he was swallowed by the blast and slowly incinerated by it as he was launched into the deep void of space beyond Earth's atmosphere. The legend was finally undone.

Gohan returned to his normal state, completely devoid of energy. "I-I did it dad…I saved the Earth just like you would have…" he said to the sky with a smile on his face. Then everything turned Black around him and he lost consciousness.

 _And boom that's another chapter. Haven't got much to say about this one other than who wants to see the power scale for all the fighters as they are right now!? Because I'm giving you the powers of each fighter from the start of this fic leading up to this point. Here you go_

 **Power Scale : Start – Now**

Gohan - Base Gohan (current): 19

SSJ Gohan (current): 76

SSJ2 Gohan (current): 152

Rage Boost (current): 200

Base Gohan (Cell): 18

SSJ Gohan (Cell): 72

SSJ2 Gohan (Cell): 144

Rage Boost (Cell): 180

Vegeta - Base Vegeta: 20

SSJ Vegeta: 80

SSJ2 Vegeta: 160

Majin Vegeta hypothetical: 170

Goten - Base Goten: 8

SSJ Goten: 32

Trunks - Base Trunks: 9

SSJ Trunks: 36

Vrozan - 1st Vrozan: 16

Final Vrozan: 64

Videl - Videl (pre-training): 2

Absolute Energy Release: 8

Post-training: 10

Tao - Android: 14

Cell - Imperfect: 14

Semi-perfect: 42

Perfect: 126

Krillin - Krillin: 10

Tien - Tien: 10

Piccolo - The Namek: 70

Frieza - Final Form: 20

100%: 40

Normal Human : 0.5

Broly – Base: 15

SSJ: 60

LSSJ: 100

 _As you can see I've used small numbers to make multiplication much easier and I've even included the powers of Cell and Frieza so you can scale them. Yes I know Frieza's final form is only twice as strong as Videl who has raised her power from 2-10 in a short time but I did say everyone is scaled down a lot to make powers closer and easier to understand. Don't worry though these people will get ridiculously powerful. For example about 10 chapters from now (give or take) an average power from the stronger fighters will be "400" so they'll start increasing pretty quickly. Hope you're satisfied with this chapter, after this we start moving to the Buu Saga so strap your seatbelts in because it's going to diverge from the Manga pretty significantly at that point... Well, more so than it already has... Till next time fam._


	12. Chapter 12: The big secret comes out

_I'd like to start off apologising to everyone. I recently posted a power scale for the story that I wrote a long time ago at the start of the story. However after some people pointed out inconsistencies I went poking around and realised I had posted one of the many scratch versions of the power scale. I'll go into more detail at the end of the chapter and include the more polished version of the scale._

Gohan blinked his eyes open and once again found himself in a white room. He wasn't sure why he was in a Capsule Corp medical bay at first but soon all the memories of his recent encounter came flying back into his head. Gohan wasn't concerned at all until he remembered a certain someone had been at the battleground and got hurt pretty bad. He sat up in the bed and looked around himself, Vegeta was standing at the door giving him a critical look. "Vegeta! Was there a girl there with us? Is she alright?!" His questions became more urgent and anxious as Vegeta's lack of expression told him nothing.

The Saiyan prince remained silent for a time, scanning the boy with his eyes and his energy, before he eventually saw fit to answer the boy's questions. "The human girl who was with you is fine" he responded, "She's quite the feisty one, barking orders and demanding your presence..." The older warrior commented, trailing off. Gohan wasn't sure why Vegeta was looking at him like he was, but he wasn't sure it really mattered right now, "She knows boy, she called you by your name instead of that ridiculous moniker you gave yourself to waste time with crime-fighting." The prince added giving Gohan some context to the situation. He looked down at his lap, eyes burdened with the weight of the situation.

"Yeah I figured it wouldn't be much longer before she found out, I thought I would have had enough time to tell her myself at least." Gohan muttered regretfully, causing Vegeta to scowl at his emotional weakness.

"Bah, quit the long face boy, it is unbefitting of a Saiyan Warrior as gifted as you. Show some pride, you just defeated the Legendary Super Saiyan single-handedly" Vegeta barked at him in a manner that sounded like he was still berating him, but Gohan could tell it was just disguised praise at his ability as a protector, "If your 3rd class brain took a second to think, you'd remember that such a thing was only possible with the lot of us 7 years ago." He finished, staring out the window next to Gohan's bed, remembering how thoroughly they were all trounced the last time they fought.

"You're right, I know, but...there's something about this girl. It pains me to think I've disappointed her or let her down. I care about her yet here I am, forced to explain myself after being found out for all the lies I've fed her since we met. It makes me feel like shit." Gohan said with a sad note to his voice that made Vegeta grin devilishly.

"Good to know your feelings match your appearance, you look like a wounded puppy brat. You know what that means? You've picked a-"

"I haven't got time for your pestering Vegeta, I didn't come here to get kicked while I'm down, can you please just tell me where she is now so I can try to not get screamed at?" Gohan pleaded pathetically.

Vegeta frowned at being interrupted and lost interest in telling the boy about his predicament, he scoffed in indignation, "Whatever, she's in the sitting room with Bulma" Gohan got out of the bed and bolted off out the door, past Vegeta and down the hall, "AND FOR THE RECORD YOU DIDN'T 'COME HERE' AT ALL! I HAD TO CARRY YOUR LAZY ASS!" The prince called after the adolescent warrior, "Fucking teenagers, no respect at all for their superiors." He remarked with distaste before walking in the same direction as he was hungry and desired his woman to fix him something. Also he maybe sort of wanted to watch the boy get cussed out by his chosen mate. If she was anything like Bulma or Kakarot's woman she'd tear him a new one, _"Dende, if you really are a god, I request you use your powers to make the boy miserable."_ He thought to himself, internally crossing his fingers as he marched his way to the lounge.

Gohan arrives around the corner in his completely torn up Gi and saw Videl sitting opposite Bulma as they talked about something. The first thing he noticed was that she seemed okay. He sighed in deep relief and momentarily relaxed, satisfied that she was unharmed. Videl glanced over at him and he saw something in her eyes he couldn't decipher and he didn't like that at all. She put down her mug of whatever-Bulma-had-gotten-her and slowly walked over to Gohan who looked away in shame and ran his mouth like an idiot, not knowing what the right words were, "Videl I- I didnt- I was going to-you see I-"

She suddenly began looking him up and down with a critical eye, noting his various injuries. He had cuts and bruises all over his body. He had a few very obviously broken ribs and he was favoring a leg. She 'tsk'ed at him and shook her head, "Look at you Gohan! You look like you were hit by a truck! What are you even doing out of bed?" she questioned with a disappointed tone, poking him in the deep purple bruise covering his right side. It made Gohan since and she pushed him in the direction of the couch as he explained.

"I needed to come talk to you so I could-"he tried to say but she shushed him with her index finger against his lips and eyes closed with a frown.

"No excuse you can conjure is befitting of how badly hurt you are, you should have waited until you were fully healed to come explain it all to me." She told him, crossing her arms with a sense of finality.

Gohan was extremely confused about the situation, why wasn't she madder at him? Why wasn't she shell-shocked? Or even just normal shocked? She was taking it ridiculously well. Instead of questioning her about that yet he decided it prudent to first complete their current conversation. "Yeah I know Videl, but you really don't need to worry about me, I've seen far worse injuries in my fighting career" He told her, "Thanks to my genetics I'm extremely resilient and heal faster than humans do, and I felt really terrible about you having to find out about me the way you did, so I wanted to give you a proper explanation for it all." He concluded for her, making her frown soften.

The girl cracked her eyes open and looked at him in her peripheral vision for a few moments, "Hey, don't beat yourself up too much, I'm not as upset with you as you probably think I am." She remarked.

"That's just it, why aren't you? If I'm honest with myself I hid all this from you, while being able to look you in the eye and act like everything was okay." Gohan responded to her statement questioningly.

She sighed gently and responded with a measured tone, "Gohan I figured out you were Saiyaman before I saw you fighting that guy…" she admitted, looking up at the ceiling.

Gohan's eyes bugged out of his skull, "You did!?" he wracked his brain thinking about if she maybe caught him unconscious and saw him in his normal state.

The teenaged girl nodded delicately with a pensive expression, "I had a dream about you" she began, thinking of a way to describe the collage of images and memories that melded into discernable information in her unconscious state. "You slipped up a lot you know, never enough to expose you outright. In fact I barely picked up on it in the moments they actually happened in. But over time my subconscious memory compiled a list of circumstantial evidence based on what you had done, what you had said, and what I already knew. And it brought it all to my attention in one go. It was almost like how evidence is presented to a jury in a court room." She explained, her hands gesturing in a cute manner as she tried to visualise it in her mind.

Gohan's jaw hung open in disbelief, "You figured me out in a dream!?" He asked her with a tone of incredulity. And he had been sooo careful! But little did he know, all along he was unknowingly leaving little breadcrumbs of evidence that lead her straight to him. He had been a fool to think he could sneak one past a girl sharp as Videl Satan.

"I did. Now Gohan I understand that it's all a very long story and it's very complicated, so I just want to know, were you ever planning on telling me the truth, even if I never figured it out?" the girl asked him with an again unreadable expression and tone that completely confused the Saiyan teenager.

"Of course I planned to Videl. I just planned to do if bit by bit over time. It's a lot to take in…" he told her, his voice sounding somewhat like he was warning her of what was to come.

She ignored this however and stared deeply into Gohan's eyes, as if she was looking for something. The boy wasn't sure what she was doing but stood his ground nonetheless, awaiting his judgement.

Suddenly she nodded again and stepped back with a neutral expression, "You're telling the truth, I can tell" she remarked matter-of-factly. Gohan did remember her saying she was very good at reading people back when he first met her. "Alright I've made my decision. This tournament is coming up in a few days and I want both of us to be in the right headspace so we can say we gave it our all. To ensure that we achieve that, you're off the hook until after the tournament. Doing well in this competition means more to me than knowing all your secrets right now." She explained to him with a tone of finality that told Gohan there would be no room for argument about her decision.

He smiled at how much of a fighter she really was. She made a much better Martial Artist than she did a Cop, that was for sure. He nodded at her and became all business, "In that case we still have a few days of training to do before this tournament. Let's get to work." He declared to her.

 ***The next day: A grassy plain***

"Yyyyagh!" Videl screamed as she fired yet another Ki blast at Gohan, who simply swatted it into the air above them. The girl charged him and threw a flurry of punches and kicks at speeds a normal human would have only seen as a blur. Gohan slipped and avoided every attack as if they were moving in slow motion. He caught a head-kick at the ankle and tossed her upwards, holding back half of his base form strength. She flew upwards but used her Ki to gain control of her flight path in mid-air, flipping backwards and diving fist first at the son of Goku. Her teacher dashed backwards away from the punch but right before she hit the ground she withdrew her fist and flipped forwards, getting her feet underneath her. From that position she pushed off the ground right at her dashing friend. Not dashing like handsome of course, though that's not to say he wasn't handsome, but she didn't mean to refer to his charming appearance- _"Focus Videl! Dammit stop acting like a fangirl!"_ she berated internally. She narrowly dodged a kick that would have clotheslined her had she not pulled her head back into the fight. _"It's just Gohan! Just stupid, smart…strong…handsome Gohan…with biceps like stone and abs that could cut diamonds…"_ she thought trailing off as Gohan charged in, grabbed her right arm and leg-swiped her, putting her on the ground and then pinning both her arms above her head with one hand. _"Sweet mother of God!"_ she exclaimed in total surprise as she felt her face heat up a thousand degrees. This was like something out of a steamy romance novel for Christ's sake how could she not!?

"Videl? Helloooo, Earth to Videl?" he called out, seeing her red face and dazed expression. Gohan started snapping his fingers beside both her ears with his free hand, "Are you alright Videl?" The Raven haired teenager shook her head and blinked, clearing her mind of her previous train of thought. There were only a few days left until the tournament and she needed to stay on the ball.

"I'm fine, I was just...thinking about something." She said, trailing off feeling very embarrassed at herself. Gohan stood up and offered Videl a hand to get up. She took it and he pulled her, not thinking about what he was doing and accidentally launched her into the air, screaming and wailing.

"Oh shit..." He muttered to himself, before he phased out of existence and reappeared above Videl, letting her fly right into his arms where he caught her before dropping back to the ground. Her chest heaved and her eyes were as wide as saucers. Her hair was a mess from the wind resistance and she was shaking uncontrollably. "Uhhh, maybe its time to take a break..." He commented with a nervous, guilty expression on his face.

 ***2 hours later***

The two teenagers were sitting against opposite sides of the trunk of a gigantic, ancient tree. A tree that looked like it had withstood countless seasons, storms, droughts and other natural disasters. Underneath it, amongst its massive protruding roots that disappeared into the Earth below, our heroes sat eating pieces of fruit, awkwardly not making eye contact with each other. They hadn't spoken since that little incident, though for entirely different reasons. Gohan held his tongue because he thought she was mad at him and didn't want to further incur her wrath upon him. Videl on the other hand was still too embarrassed from what happened to even look the boy in the eye. The silence dragged on for countless minutes as the two demonstrated text-book teenage social-ineptness. Gohan allowed himself to think too much about what had happened and began berating himself for not keeping his energy in-check better. He mentally beat himself up to the point that he began physically bashing the back of his head into the trunk of the tree they rested beneath, _" .STUPID!"_ He hissed internally, enunciating each word with another thump into the tree, _"I should know better than this for Dende's sake! How could I have allowed something like this t-"_ however in keeping with the trends of this story, Gohan was cut off by yet another unfortunate event. The tree had certainly withstood many disasters, however perhaps the boy had underestimated exactly how many it had weathered, as he heard the familiar creaking and snapping of brittle, old wood meeting its end. It began to lean away from Gohan and he scowled at himself for again making the same mistake. _"Son of a BITCH!"_ he cursed as he realised it was falling in the direction Videl was sitting at. He dashed around the tree to where Videl was standing, only just realising that the tree was indeed falling towards her. He protectively pulled her close with one of his arms, stretching his free arm outward towards the tree.

The trunk of the falling goliath tree reached his hand and, with a loud creaking sound came to a stop there, a few smaller branches and twigs fell from the canopy of the tree but it otherwise stayed in one piece. He then brought his arm further upwards, till it was pointing straight into the sky above them and the tree came with it. Videl gasped in disbelief when she realised he had just lifted the tree clear off the ground. Once Gohan was satisfied it was stable, he threw his arm forward and the whole tree flew 20 feet away from them before hitting the ground thunderously and leaving a huge indent in the earth beneath it in the shape of a tree. Gohan turned to her with concern etched into his features, "Are you alright? I'm so sorry I almost crushed you just now!" He fervently apologised, grasping each of her shoulders and holding her still as he looked her over.

She poked him hard between the ribs, "Hey, Gohan! Quit freaking out over me all the time, I'm alright, thanks to you." She told him, making Gohan relax significantly. He smiled sadly at her as he looked her in the eyes.

"Sorry, I know you don't need me fussing over you like I'm your mother, I just wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I ever hurt you." He explained to her, his voice growing softer as he realised how uncomfortably close their faces were. Silence ensued for a few moments before he finally remarked, "Did I ever tell you that you have really pretty eyes?" Like some kind of hopeless romantic.

Nonetheless Videl's face burned yet again as she wordlessly began leaning closer to him, she could feel his warm breath on her skin and she was close enough to kiss him if she just reached up on her toes. Their faces unconsciously drew nearer before eventually, only an inch away from lip-locking, Gohan's spine snapped straight and he looked directly to their left. Videl felt hurt and disappointment surge through her at first before she felt something nearby.

"Oh don't stop on my account, there is nothing quite as wondrous as young love." A deep gravelly voice remarked. There to their side floated a white-cloaked figure with a strange Blue bodysuit and White boots. A hood covered its head but a goatee gracing a strong chin was visible from underneath. Gohan growled and pushed Videl behind him as he crouched slightly in a battle-ready position, "I must admit, I didn't think hair dye and contacts were a part of the costume when I saw you Saiyaman." The figure confessed. Gohan further tensed and prepared himself for a fight. He just couldn't seem to catch a break lately.

"Who are you and what do you want!?" Gohan demanded with a dangerous voice.

"My my, how aggressive and impolite of a supposed Super Hero" the figure commented, attempting to achieve some kind of reaction from the young hero who just deepened their scowl in annoyance, "Very well, my identity is of no consequence, all you need to know is that I am the brains of the terrorist attacks being launched upon Satan City for the past few weeks now, and your interference has been quite...troublesome for my plans. I have come here to remove you from the equation Saiyaman and Videl Satan."

"I guess we'll have to wait and SEE!" Upon the last word Gohan surged forward, a bright white Aura burning into life around his form. He opened up with a flying side-kick that went straight through his opponent. _"Afterimage!"_ Gohan recognised the illusion and turned around to see the figure standing right in front of him. He growled and launched a right cross that was dodged easily. Gohan followed up with a left straight and a spinning right heel kick which were slipped and ducked respectively. Gohan noted that the figure made no attempt to counter or retaliate yet. The young Saiyan weighed his options, it was obvious that his base form was no match for this guy. But he wasn't sure it was a good idea to transform. He launched back at him and threw countless attacks all of them were dodged easily and Gohan began to feel a sense of apprehension. After the mystery fighter yet again dodged a hook from Gohan he finally countered with a kick to the chest that sent Gohan flying backwards into the fallen tree on the ground, exploding into shards of wood and debris.

"Gohan!" Videl screamed in terror, running towards Gohan's point of impact. She didn't entirely understand what was going on here but she understood her friend had just got kicked through a tree.

"No Videl, stay back!" She heard him say, stopping her in her tracks. Gohan stood up relatively unharmed save for a few scratches. "Looks like I have to take it up a notch.." The warrior remarked. He glared long and hard at his attacker before he wordlessly ascended into Super Saiyan as golden flames sprung from his skin and enveloped him in an erratic aura.

"Ahhhh, impressive. You are capable of transformation." The figure complimented, "Though I must say I'm quite disappointed that this is the extent of your power boy, but it cannot be helped." He said with a smug tone that made Gohan chuckle internally.

 _"I hope for your sake you don't succeed in pissing me off buddy."_ He thought to himself as he prepared to continue their skirmish.

"Don't bother, I already know enough about your power to safely calculate that you are no real threat to my plans" the deep voice boomed confidently, "Especially if _you_ are the most powerful on this planet." He added mockingly, making Gohan growl and take a step forward. "Uh uh uh, I have no time for you. I'll be taking my leave now, until next time… _Gohan_." Videl winced, realising she had accidentally revealed his real name to their enemy. If Gohan noticed, or even cared, he made no indication of it. He merely kept his eyes focused on the spot the mystery man occupied as the figure faded from sight.

Gohan waited, keeping his energy raised as a precaution, for another five minutes in case the guy was bluffing and trying to get a sneak attack in. When he was absolutely sure that he was gone from the area Gohan's muscles relaxed and his Aura faded away with an ever fainter sound of rushing air. His normally brilliant Gold spikes dulled to a pale yellow, before there was a strange sound and his hair returned to deepest Black.

With the tense atmosphere gone along with her adrenaline rush, Videl's legs began shaking uncontrollably before they gave out and she collapsed to her knees, sweating and breathing heavily, "W-Who was that? What's going on!?" she almost shrieked, trying to get a hold of herself. Videl had never felt a power like that. Not even from Gohan. It made the air around her heavy and thick, and it had an awful, rotten quality to it. She supposed that meant he wasn't on their side, since not even Bulma's husband's energy had felt like that.

"I wish I knew Videl…" he answered honestly, "But whatever it is, I'm not sure if I'll be able to stop it if he's involved…" he commented solemnly. That was it. The energy he felt all those weeks ago. A power even greater than Cell's. By how much he wasn't sure, but it at the very least rivalled the power he wielded at the Cell Games years ago. That couldn't mean anything good at all…

 ***Meanwhile: In a hall of a hidden underground laboratory***

The cloaked figure stalked down the hallway. He entered a room full of his minions, bustling about and doing their jobs. Any who noticed his presence saluted him and greeted his respectfully. "Doctor!" he commanded simply and a much smaller being than himself came running to him immediately.

"Yes my lord?" it asked dutifully.

"Did you use the scanner as I asked you to?" He asked the short creature that owed him it's allegiance.

"But of course my leige, your wish is my command, you wished a task done and so I made it happen in an efficient manner…" it responded.

The hooded figure rolled his eyes, if this idiot kissed his ass anymore his lips would start staining red. He waited silently, as the underling remained in his bowed, proud pose, "…Well!?" he growled in irritation and the creature yelped slightly before continuing.

"I-initially his energy plateaued at about 750 Killis" the servant handed him the paper with the chart, showing the readings, "But at some point during your skirmish his power multiplied, before reaching roughly 3000" be said, with a tone of great intrigue in his high-pitched voice. "We aren't quite sure what caused this phenomena and were hoping you could give us some insight so as to better prepare our men."

The leader scratched his chin thoughtfully, remembering the transformation he witnessed, _"Transformations are near unheard of among humans to begin with, but for one to grant a power increase of this magnitude…Yes it is best I warn the troops about-"_ His train of thought was cut short when a familiar feeling in his forehead caused his thoughts to make a total 180. "Leave me, I have business. Make it clear I am not to be bothered until I emerge, else I will end the lives of whoever dares defy me, slowly and painfully." he commanded simply in a flippant manner.

"But sire mightn't you first provide me wi-"

"NOW!" He bellowed, his tone depending respect and that he be obeyed without question. His minion squealed in terror and quickly retreated from his presence. The leader walked through the doorway to his so-called meditation room, and flicked a switch on the inside. The doors hissed closed behind him for what would be the next few hours."

 ***That night: Grassy Plains***

Gohan sat at the fire watching Videl. Or rather sensing her. He was doing an evaluation of her Ki. She had grown incredibly strong in a very short amount of time. She had more than quadrupled her power and now rivalled Krillin and Tien in brute force and it made Gohan wonder. Ever since he was a boy he'd had a gigantic dormant potential that massively outweighed his Father's and Vegeta's. This had been due to his strange mix of genetics between Earthling and Saiyan (Earthling rather than human as Chi-Chi is not fully human in this story, she's half Ogre from the Ox-King's side of the family, which is a sub-type of human that are much larger and stronger than regular humans. I made this up literally because I refuse to believe Ox-King is a normal human, LOOK AT THE MOTHAFUCKA! He's massive!)

Now as he watched the impossible unfold before his eyes he had to wonder, could Videl be a human equivalent of what he was? A phenomenon among creatures gifted with a natural talent far greater than they're peers? He supposed it was entirely possible, but the fact that fate had happened to draw their paths crossing was unlikely at best.

It was in the middle of this train of thought when Videl received a call on her cell phone. The girl blinked in surprise when she saw the caller ID displayed on the screen and so checked for himself with his sharp eyesight. Erasa? Why was she calling?

Now Gohan was no Piccolo but his hearing was acute enough that if he so chose to he could hear the entire conversation from this measly ten foot space between them but his chivalrous upbringing kept his temptations in check. He simply distracted himself while he waited.

After a few minutes of conversation Videl placed her smart phone back in her pocket and stood up, talking to Gohan as she moved, "That was Erasa, she said that we're having a field trip to Capsule Corp for the next few days, starting tomorrow morning, and asked if we were going" She began to explain as the teenager started rummaging through her bag, "Obviously I said we were too busy training and-"

"I think we should go." Gohan said simply.

"What!? But my training! You said-" Videl started in an accusing tone.

"Videl you've already made astounding progress. You're a literal natural at Martial Arts. However the fact is you've worked really hard these last few days, and I feel like now is a good time to get a rest." Gohan explained placatingly, "Besides, any difference in your power over the next 3 days would be negligible. Better to enjoy these next few days with our friends, after all who knows what might happen?"

Videl stared at Gohan for a while. She had been about to argue back when she heard him bring up that last part, and when he looked at her as he said it Videl could see the uncertainty in him. She clenched her fists and steeled her emotions, "This guy is that powerful huh?" she asked knowingly and Gohan stiffened wordlessly. A few moments passed and he simply nodded at her. Videl contemplated this information that Gohan wasn't sure if they could win against this opponent before nodding back at her teacher and beginning to pack her stuff.

After everything was Capsulised and ready to go, Videl hit a sudden road block. "Uhhh, Gohan…I maybe kinda thought we'd be out here training up until the tournament, so I told our house keepers to lock the whole place down all week…" Videl confessed.

Gohan internally face-palmed at his misfortune. Outwardly however he maintained perfect composure, "Oh so you need a place to stay then?" he asked, making sure he understood the situation properly. At her affirmation he continued, "You can stay the night at my apartment if you like?" he offered politely, fighting a blush more intense than any Ki attack he'd seen.

Videl fought a similar battle as she graciously accepted his offer. With that settled the duo took flight at a comfortable speed for Videl and made their way towards Satan City.

A few hours later found Gohan's penthouse window being used as a door for our protagonists. Gohan walked to a wall and switched on the lights, watching them light up the apartment one by one. Videl took a look at the luxurious living space her friend had been granted. "Uhh, make yourself comfortable I guess, take whatever you like from the fridge, call me if you need me. I'm just going to go have a shower, alright?"

Videl nodded while awkwardly avoiding eye contact with the boy. Gohan quickly left the room into what looked like his bedroom. After a few minutes she heard water begin to run and did her very best to not imagine Gohan in the shower. She put on the TV and watched a random show while she waited.

A short while later Gohan emerged from the room dressed in long cotton pants and a White T-shirt and made a beeline straight for the kitchen. Videl decided now would be the best time to give Gohan the details of when they'd need to wake up, where they needed to go and what they had to take with them on the trip and got up to go to him.

They went over the details and ate, or in Gohan's case devoured, dinner. The field trip would start tomorrow at 6 in the morning. Normally they'd need permission from their guardians but Videl, being the daughter of Mr. Satan, was deemed reliable enough to go. Gohan, being his own legal guardian, needed no permission. After 3 days and nights at Capsule Corp, they would all be taken to the World Martial Arts tournament to watch from the skybox, and during the down time between matches, they would be staying in V.I.P accommodations.

Gohan and Videl would simply fly to Capsule Corp rather than be crammed on the bus for a few hours, and when it came tournament time . It began to go into the later hours of the night and they decided they should go to sleep, which is where the problems arose. Videl was getting ready to set up on the couch when she looked up and saw Gohan eyeing her with a raised brow, "What are you're doing?" he asked passively.

Videl raised a brow back at him before responding, "I'm getting ready to sleep. Why?" she asked looking at him suspiciously.

"You aren't sleeping on the couch" he stated simply, "You're my guest." he added as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Videl sighed at him, here they go again. Still, she had to admit she was impressed with his manners. "Really Gohan it's okay, you slept on the couch last time it's only fair that I take it this time."

He shook his head, "I asked for the couch because it would be improper to share a bed with you. There is no need in this situation as I won't be sleeping in my bed so you'll occupy it tonight." He explained as he walked away gesturing for her to follow.

Videl's eyebrows rose in surprise, "Oh" she responded dumbly, she gathered her stuff and put it back in her bag before picking it up and following him to the bedroom. She supposed it was a good enough reason for her to take the bedroom. As she set her bag down and looked about the spacious luxury bedroom Gohan indicated where the bathroom was. She sat down on the side of the bed and almost sighed aloud at how comfortable it felt. Gohan seemed to take that as his cue to leave and made for the door.

"Gohan! Wait a sec!" She called out making him stop at the door and look at her inquisitively, "Where are you going?" She asked curiously, wondering where he might be going.

Gohan smiled at her in turn and scratched the back of his head exactly as his father used to do, "I just have a few things to do, people to talk to, errands to run. I'll be here in the morning though." He told her.

She nodded at him and said goodnight as he closed the door. She flopped backwards onto the mattress and sighed softly at the comfort it afforded her sore muscles. She noticed that it smelled distinctly of Gohan which comforted her even further. She found herself quickly drifting off into sleep.

Meanwhile Gohan walked out to his gym area, and dropped to the floor in a meditative position, he focused all of his energy on the familiar distant signature of Vegeta and tried to contact him, an ability he had learned from Piccolo years ago. "Vegeta…Vegeta, can you hear me…?" silence ensued for half a minute before eventually.

"What do you want boy you're interrupting my training! If I'm going to best Kakarot at this upcoming tournament I'll need to be as strong as I can be!" He barked back in his mind, knowing Gohan would hear it.

"I know, I know, just hear me out. Earlier today I was confronted by a mysterious figure who claimed to be the mastermind behind the attacks, and I am fairly certain it was the same person from the broadcast." He explained.

"So what? Did you bring him down then?" Vegeta asked impatiently.

"I tried Vegeta, but even as a Super Saiyan he laughed at my abilities and boasted that I was no match for him." Gohan explicated to the older warrior who scoffed internally.

"That means very little, look what you did to Broly." The Saiyan Prince pointed out to Gohan.

"I know Vegeta, but I can't correctly control that power, and there's more. This person, I'm fairly certain that they are significantly stronger than Cell." Gohan revealed, remembering that massive energy he had sensed a while ago.

Again silence ensued, however this time when Vegeta broke it, his voice was much lower and he was taking Gohan's words into careful consideration, "How sure of this are you?" Vegeta inquired.

"Pretty sure. A while back I sensed a gigantic power growing in the distance that made Cell and I look average in comparison. I can't say for sure that it's this guy but if he's confident that I can't stop him he's either extremely powerful or extremely arrogant." Gohan told Vegeta.

"Hmph, this could be a problem…do you think you can learn to control your full power?" Vegeta asked him with a sense of urgency.

Gohan blinked in surprise at the question, "Well, maybe given time and with your help, but we have no idea what the motive is here so we can't even guess when and where they might attack." Gohan replied, "Though my gut feeling tells me it'll be very soon." He admitted.

Vegeta cursed under his breath before going quite for a long moment before talking again, "Your father returns in 4 days on the day of the tournament, between the three of us we might have enough power to stop whatever it is that's coming. If we do not…" Vegeta trailed off but Gohan got the message loud and clear.

"I understand Vegeta, my class is coming to Capsule Corp for a week long field trip, starting tomorrow. I'll see you then." Gohan finished, before releasing the energy that held that connection. He panted with exertion, it took a lot of energy to do that by himself, with Piccolo he only had to meet him halfway, but with others, he had to establish the connection and maintain it by himself. He stood up and left the room, he plopped down on the couch and let himself drift off to sleep.

 _And that's the end of another chapter. Next chapter or two will detail the field trip and then it's tournament time. Also from now on please try to review with an account rather than anonymously so that I can PM you if I need to. I got 3 suspiciously familiar reviews all 1 minute after the other last chapter telling me my power scale seemed off or something like that. Obviously by the same person. Anyway thank you all for the reviews I have responded to those with queries, until next time peeps._

 _Edit: So after receiving the review questioning the power scaling of my characters, I looked at them again with confusion since I was very sure I had fixed those exact inconsistencies long ago, lo-and-behold I have about 6 different versions of the power scale all set out very similarly, and I posted and have been referring to a scratch version of it by mistake. So here is my updated version, sorry for the mix up._

 _Proper power scale: start – Now_

Gohan - Base Gohan (current): 19

SSJ Gohan (current): 76

SSJ2 Gohan (current): 152

Rage Boost (current): 200

Base Gohan (Cell): 18

SSJ Gohan (Cell): 72

SSJ2 Gohan (Cell): 144

Rage Boost (Cell): 180

Vegeta - Base Vegeta: 20

SSJ Vegeta: 80

SSJ2 Vegeta: 160

Majin Vegeta hypothetical: 170

Goten - Base Goten: 8

SSJ Goten: 32

Trunks - Base Trunks: 9

SSJ Trunks: 36

Vrozan - 1st Vrozan: 16

Final Vrozan: 64

Videl - Videl (pre-training): 0.5

Absolute Energy Release: 4

Post-training: 5

Tao - Android: 6

Cell - Imperfect: 20

Semi-perfect: 60

Perfect: 100

Krillin - Krillin: 10

Tien - Tien: 13

Piccolo – Post-Time chamber: 45

Fused with Kami: 38

Fused with Nail: 18

Frieza – 1st form: 8

2nd form: 16

3rd form: 24

Final Form: 32

100%: 40

Normal Human : 0.2

Broly – Base: 15

SSJ: 60

LSSJ: 100


	13. Chapter 13: Heroics 1st Field Trip 2nd

Gohan was flying around a dark room, his mind on high alert and his body prepared for anything, he heard laughter behind him and he spun around, casting a large blast in the direction he heard it come from. The light from the attack brought a cloaked figure into his sight, "You are weak boy, and I will destroy everything you care about…" it declared sadistically. Gohan charged the figure and let loose a barrage of kicks and punches that all went straight through his enemy. "You can't even lay a finger on me, how do you expect to protect people, especially the ones you love…" They trailed off at that and suddenly Videl was being choked to death by this mysterious figure with…pink mitten-like hands? Gohan tried to stop him but his arms felt heavy as lead and he couldn't seem to touch either of them.

Meanwhile Videl was came out the shower and emerged into the living room to see Gohan sprawled awkwardly on the couch and frowned. It just occurred to the girl that he probably lied about the errands he needed to run so she'd take the bedroom. She sighed at the sappy sweetness of his actions and, with a roll of her eyes, moved forward to check on him and wake him up. As she rounded the couch to face Gohan however she noticed the expression of terror on his face as he twitched and rolled in his sleep. She became concerned and moved in close to the boy and placed the back of her hand across his forehead and determined that he didn't have a temperature.

Suddenly his whole body tensed and he sat up, "Videl!" he cried in despair, soaked in cold sweat. He was panting like he had just done an intense workout. The girl eyed him curiously as his body seemed to begin to distinguish reality from whatever dream he had just been having. He looked up and saw her standing before him with an expression of worry marring her features.

"Gohan…what were you-"

"It was nothing you need to worry about" he interrupted with an assuring voice, "Just a silly nightmare." He told her as he calmed himself down.

Videl continued looking at him suspiciously but decided not to push the subject. The two dressed and prepared themselves, they ate breakfast and got ready to leave. Gohan led Videl to the window that he always used and turned to her, "Videl, West City is almost twenty-thousand kilometers away. My max speed is five thousand an hour, however I have a technique that will allow me to increase my speed exponentially." He told her.

She stared at him blankly in a way that clearly told her alien companion she didn't catch whatever he was trying to tell her besides the fact that he was very fast, "Okay…aaaaand?" she coaxed, trying to get him to elaborate.

"And I'll be moving at a speed you can't keep up with, so I'll need to carry you with me until we're at West City." He explained with a light blush, turning his face away from hers.

Videl's face heat up similarly and she could only say, "Oh, okay." In response to this information. Taking this answer as permission, since she didn't react badly to the news, he approached her and the closer he got, the brighter their faces began to glow. Gohan scooped her up delicately like they were newlyweds before walking back to the window and, taking a quick look around and making sure no one was near them or watching them, he lifted a foot and planted it on the windowsill.

"Hold on tight and close your eyes for a moment. The sensation will be easier to handle that way." He told her, and she obeyed. Gohan then leaned forward on his foot that was on the windowsill and pushed off out his apartment at the speed of sound. He rocketed at this velocity until they were a few thousand feet away from his apartment and above the clouds. He slowed to a stop and saw the slight green tone to Videl's skin.

"Are you alright?" he asked in a gentlemanly fashion, receiving a nod as she took deep breaths as she opened her eyes slowly. After letting her innards settle she nodded.

"Alright, I'm okay now, let's go." She suggested to her male companion who agreed with her, and with that, Gohan turned Super Saiyan and they began their flight to Capsule Corp. Gohan started off slow and steadily got faster and faster until he was at his maximum speed. Just over 4 times the speed of sound, but if they wanted to get there quickly he'd have to move at his maximum, "Alright Videl hang on, we're about to go a LOT faster!" he declared in warning.

"How could we possibly go any faster!?" She questioned like he was crazy, they were hauling ass!

Gohan didn't respond and when she looked at his face his eyes were shut and his brows were furrowed, a vein appeared at his temple and his jaw tightened. His fists clenched and his body shook slightly, "KAI-O-KEEEEN…Times two!" he bellowed and suddenly his Aura became a Purple-y Red colour that stained his Golden Hair a similar colour. She felt his muscles tighten and bulge beneath his shirt and they lurched forward suddenly. Gohan's speed doubled and Videl squeaked due to surprise at the change of both his pace and his musculature. She blushed indecently and hid her face in his chest, not that he seemed to notice since he was too busy streaking across the skies at about ten-thousand kilometers an hour.

They flew there in less than two hours and had finally reached West City. Rather it was about 3 kilometers away when Gohan suddenly started losing altitude. Gohan twisted his body so he was going feet first at the ground before be landed, sinking knee deep into the Earth. His Reddish Aura faded away, leaving both his hair and Aura Gold once again.

Videl gave him a concerned look as she climbed out his arms, "Don't *pant* worry…about *Huff* me" he told her, taking a few more deep breaths before he continued, "that move just…takes a lot out of me…" he explained, as his muscles twitched and spasmed slightly from the strain they had just been under. He grimaced as he pulled a leg out from the Earth. He pulled his other leg out and after resting a few moments they re-began their flight to West City.

They reached it and were steadily on their way to Capsule Corp. until… ***BANG BANG*** Gohan heard distant gunshots and halted immediately. Videl, not able to hear what he could, looked at him confused and questioned what the matter was but he was listening to intently to respond straight away as he tried to pinpoint it.

"Helloooo! Gohan are you even listening to me?" she asked with an indignant sound in her voice.

"There some kind of danger over here, I have to help. I'll be quick I promise!" he explained in a short manner that didn't give her a lot of time to process what he said but before she could utter a word of response he was set alight by golden hell-fire and he launched like a bullet across the skies.

She huffed and crossed her arms in annoyance before making the decision to follow him. She flew off in the direction she saw him leave, fruitlessly attempting to follow the rapidly fading Golden streak. She almost began to think it was a mistake when she heard people yelling and some kind of 'bang'. Figuring this was the place she dipped into the view of the area and saw the protective line of Police cruisers formed around the perimeter and several armed men both in uniform protecting the defensive line, and in dirty clothes and rags retreating into a building. Videl quickly realised the offenders were more of those highly advanced terrorists, she saw several dead bodies of civilians and Police Officers. It made her feel sick and she felt awful for the families of these poor innocent people. "I'm going to stop these bastards if it's the last thing I do!" she declared aloud as she looked over the carnage.

Then she remembered Gohan who was standing between the building they were holed up in and the police. Upon landing here Gohan had immediately caused a ceasefire on both sides just with his presence. He walked over to the first officer and asked him what was going on here. The man explained that they had simply turned up at this building in a large group and walked to the far end of the building and began killing at random, working their way back out and repeating on each floor. Most of the people got out and away, but an unfortunate minority of them were faced with a death of unfathomable pain and terror.

Gohan immediately got angry and stomped his way to the building when a loud gunshot rang out. Completely on reflex his hand snatched the bullet as soon as it came in range of his arms. He looked at it for a long time before looking back at the building it had been fired from. He heard the general area the shot had come from but as he looked over the few windows there was no one there. He reached out with his Ki and sensed someone hiding out of sight just below the second story window.

He growled and crushed the bullet in his hand. His blank face remained due to his sheer will to keep his composure and he demanded loudly, but calmly, that if they wanted to avoid confrontation with him they'd need to vacate the building and allow themselves to be arrested.

No one moved, or even responded to him, he could feel his rage bubbling up as his blood boiled in his veins. These cowards would come and execute innocent people but they were too scared of him to even respond to his demands or show their faces. He growled a very deep, very low rumbling growl.

Videl could tell he was getting angrier by the minute, this wouldn't last long before things went bad if something didn't happen right now.

"I can sense no organic Ki in that building! You've all been twisted and enhanced like Tao, but I didn't know it made you _emotionally_ gutless as well!" He roared, again attaining no sort of reaction or results.

This was getting very bad very quickly. Gohan was losing him composure. "I need to do something before-" but then it happened.

A little girl, no older than 4 sat up confused as if she had been unconscious until just now. Immediately she saw the bleeding corpses of her parents laying either side of her. The girl tried to wake them up but soon began crying and wailing for her parents, shaking their lifeless corpses in between heartbreaking sobs.

Gohan's half turned head saw all this unfold behind him even from 30 feet away and felt a part of him break in his heart.

He let loose a roar of pain and anger and the whole city shook along with him. He screamed and screamed to the heavens without breathing as golden flames engulfed him so densely that Gohan himself could barely be seen from the outside. The bitumen road began cracking apart beneath him as all his childhood traumas came to life through that little girl.

"Time's up you freaks!" he bellowed bringing his hands to hid sides, with another roar he cast his gathered energy forward in a massive short-range blast that engulfed the whole building and rent a deep crater in the Earth before him. The size of the blast kept expanding and everyone knocked to the ground by the blast of wind that came from the attack. If they weren't being deafened by his prolonged roar than the sound of the blast ripping and consuming the building and all of it's inhabitants did. The murderers barely had time to scream as a searing hot light burned them for a moment before they were engulfed by eternal darkness.

Videl could only stare with a mixture of compassion and awe as his most raw emotions were projected as a blast so powerful, Videl's Ki sense couldn't measure it. It was like standing before a skyscraper and trying to see the top, she could see it but she couldn't begin to guess the difference between it and herself. The pain in his voice and in his expression drew her in, she wanted to see more, to know more, to understand his pain. "Gohan…" She whispered quietly with a face of empathy for her friend.

Eventually the scream and the blast faded away and everything went quiet. Gohan stood there panting but not from physical exhaustion, but from the sheer amount of emotion coursing through him in that moment. He felt like he wanted to scream and cry at the same time. All these people were probably being killed while he slept his morning away. He dropped to his knees and clenched his fists so tight that his palms bled. He fell forward onto his hands and began pounding the ground, each time leaving a slightly bigger crater than the last. He let out another scream of emotional pain as Videl ran over to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

The girl could feel him trembling and quaking beneath her hand so she whispered soothing words to him as the police finally got over what they had seen and had the sense to try and clear out the crowd and clean up the place.

Five minutes passed and Tien landed not far away from the two and made his way over to them, looking at all the destruction and death around the place, "Goh-ugh, Gold Fighter, I sensed your energy and came to see what was going on since I was nearby.

Gohan by now had calmed down enough to breathe and talk normally, "More of those terrorist cyborgs attacked this place at random and I had to deal with them but I'm glad you're here, there's something I need to talk to you about… in private" he added giving Videl an apologetic look. The Raven-haired teen sighed and made her way over to the girl who was still crying near her parents, intent on comforting her.

"So what's up kid?" Tien asked inquisitively, wondering what this could be about.

"Tien you'll be attending the tournament right?" Gohan asked suddenly, not making eye contact with the three-eyed fighter. "Ugh, yeah, ever since I heard Goku was going to be there it's been a no-brainer." He replied, still not sure what this was about.

"Would it…would it be too much to ask if you could stay in Satan City for a while?" he asked, "Within close proximity to me preferably." He clarified.

All three of Tien's eyes were wide with shock at the strange request, "I can do that but…why?" he queried the seemingly worried teen.

"My power, it's been hard to contain lately. I get spikes of aggression and my body itches to blow something up. My anger has been very easy to trigger and I don't know why, and you, Krillin and Vegeta are the only ones powerful enough to try to stop me." He explained and concern filled Tien's features.

"Have you asked Vegeta about this? He's a Saiyan too, so he's your best bet for figuring this out." The veteran Martial Artist told him.

"No, no I haven't. That's a good idea, I'm actually going to Capsule Corp. Today on a fiel-"

"GUYS! GUYS QUICK THEY'RE ALIVE!" Videl screamed frantically, causing the two men to spin their heads in her direction, "The girl's parents are still alive!"

Gohan was off like a shot, seemingly materialising into existence right before her, checking the pulses and life energy of the prone parents. Sure enough they were both alive, but just barely. Immediately a lot of the guilt in him disappeared and was replaced by urgency. He placed a hand on the backs of each parent and gifted them some of his Ki to give them more time, "No hospital will be able to heal them in time…but I know someone who can." He stated with determination before picking them both up as carefully as he could. Suddenly he rounded on Tien, "I need to get these two to the lookout NOW, take her with you, she can fly." He explained simply before shooting off into the distance over 4 times faster than sound.

"He's faster than I remember." Tien remarked, "Come on, let's go." He said simply before lifting into the air.

"Wait!" she called out, making Tien pause in confusion, he looked over his shoulder and saw her pick up the girl and dash over to the police chief of West City, reading his name from his tag, "Chief Ruler, I know its strange that I'm wau out here in the West but I need you to keep this girl safe at the station, we'll be back soon hopefully!" she declared in a rush but the girl began crying when she tried to pass her over. The chief sweat dropped as the girl nuzzled closer to Videl who knelt down and gently pried her away and sat the sobbing girl in front of her.

"Don't go" she begged, "Stay, I'm scared!" she wailed, making Videl smile warmly.

"What's your name?" Videl asked, making the girls cries subside a bit,

"Sophia…" she answered meekly.

"Sophia huh? What a pretty name. Listen Sophia, me and my friends are going to save your mommy and daddy, we'll be back for you and we'll have them with us I promise. So until then can you be a big girl and keep the Police man company?" she asked softly.

The girl had to think about it for a bit but eventually, with one more sniffle she nodded her head and walked over to the Police chief and took his extended hand.

Videl nodded at her approvingly before turning and floating up to Tien, who had a big grin on his face, she ignored it for the time being though and instead gestured for him to take the lead, and soon enough they were on their way to Kami's lookout…or rather Dende's.

(I used the official map of Earth in DB from Daizenshuu 4 for this fic with only minor additions and alterations. I will link the map and detail my changes at the end of the chapter for those who are interested.)

Tien and Videl were moving West from West City and soon were approaching a large expanse of open water, "This isn't good, it could take a while for Gohan to get there, I don't know what he plans to do. They'll die at this rate…" the three-eyed fighter remarked grimly.

"Where exactly are we going Mr…?" Videl paused not knowing what to call the man.

"Just Tien will do fine, and we're going to the sacred temple of the Guardian of Earth." He explained simply. Videl's jaw dropped at the explanation she was given.

"You mean, like, God's temple? Kami's temple?!" she questioned disbelievingly.

Tien gave her a strange look for her reaction, "Actually his name is Dende, Kami rejoined with his other half and retired from his post as Guardian." He told her with a tone that frankly told her this was borderline common knowledge in his opinion.

Videl forcibly pulled her jaw closed and shook her head, Gohan would explain it all soon enough.

 **With Gohan: Meanwhile**

The Super Saiyan was shooting for the lookout but it was going to take an hour to get there, "Rrgh! I have to save them, I need to risk it!" he declared to himself, "KAIOKEN TIMES THREE!" he screamed for the second time that day, propelling himself faster, he was moving at 250 kilometers a minute. "Come on!" he urged himself. He was still going to take about 15 minutes, he didn't have that kind of time dammit!

His eyes widened as an idea suddenly ocurred to him, he carried one on his right shoulder, and carried the other under his right arm. After freeing up his left arm he cast it across his body downwards, "KA ME HA ME HAAAA!" a blue burst of Ki fired from his palm and suddenly increased his speed yet again. Within a matter of minutes the lookout came into view, but his body wasn't going to last at this rate, "Don't give…out!" he commanded, willing himself to make it. His Ki burst started sputtering and his Aura flickered. He let go of his blast and used his left hand to make sure that the passenger on his shoulder didn't fly off. He tilted the left side of his body in the direction he was facing. Then he felt himself suddenly feel empty, his body broke, and his Aura died, his muscles stayed stiff and pumped up with stress and energy. His momentum continued carrying but he began to fall. "No…I was…so…" he watched as the platform of the lookout seemingly rose as he fell just short of it. As he began to tumble out of the sky, he began trying to position himself not to let the humans be injured. Suddenly though he felt two pairs of hands grab his left arm and stop him. Looking up he saw Dende and Mr Popo flying above him, holding him up, "Save them…please." He asked, receiving a nod from Dende along with a kind smile.

 **Back with the others: Meanwhile**

Tien suddenly stopped, prompting Videl to do the same. "Tien? What is it?" she asked with curiosity. She hated being out of the loop like this.

"Gohan! He made it! They're going to be okay." Tien declared with relief. Videl physically loosened up as well now. "Alright let's get going then, we're still a fair way away going at this speed." He pointed out.

"Am…am I slowing you down?" it dawned on Videl now that this Tien person was likely much faster than her if he could hang with Gohan.

"Don't worry about it, nothing you can do." He responded kindly, but Videl had an idea.

"Wait I just remembered that I have my Jet Copter! It's faster than I am" she realised happily before noticing there was no body of land around. She came up with a second idea, "Hey you're strong like Gohan right? If I deploy my Jet Copter in the sky you could hold it up until I'm in and have it going couldn't you?" She asked hopefully.

Tien chuckled at her, "Well I wouldn't say I'm as strong as Gohan by any measure, but I can definitely carry a Jet Copter." He replied.

Videl nodded at his response and pulled out her capsule, "Here goes!" she exclaimed, clicking the cap with her thumb and tossing the capsule high in the air. With a large plume of smoke and a poof sound, a yellow vehicle with "SATAN" written on the side appeared in the air, before falling. Tien flew up to it and stopped it easily and safely.

"All right! Let's do this!" Videl declared aloud as she climbed inside the vehicle and started it up, taking off with Tien in close pursuit.

"This girl must be rich to afford something this fast. I can't keep up!" he muttered in surprise, "Damn alright time to put King Kai's training to good use again, "KAIOKEN!" he bellowed, gaining speed instantly. The three-eyed fighter overtook her before mouthing the words, "follow me" to her. She nodded and off they went.

 **3 hours later:**

Eventually land came back into view beneath Videl and she began looking for whatever it may be that Gohan rushed off to. She looked ahead and saw Tien pointing ahead of him. She couldn't see whatever it was yet and kept scanning the landscape looking for something. Then she saw it.

A gigantic tower, extending into the clouds above, could this be it? Tien held a hand out to signal for Videl to stop. He then asked her to follow him before dropping down to the ground. She landed her craft and climbed out, stretching.

After waking up her butt and legs she got around to asking what was up, "So why have we stopped? Gohan's up there right?" she asked.

"Well there's more to it but long story short, in keeping with tradition, no man-made vehicle is to be taken to the Guardian's lookout. We have to get up there ourselves, normally you have to climb your first time but in this case we'll make an exception for you." He told her before lifting off the ground and beginning the flight up. Videl took off along with him. Minutes past quickly and still the tower ever reached.

After another 10 minutes Videl began to feel as if there was no end to the tower. She could feel the air getting thinner as she breathed it and hoped she made it to the top before she got tired. As she flew she looked at the tower itself and watched as the cultural engravings blurred together due to the speed she was moving at. She was still comfortable but moving at her max speed was going to start affecting her soon.

As if he had read her mind Tien responded, "Don't worry, the trip is difficult but once we get up there Gohan would have had the Guardian adjust the air density on the lookout in preparation for you." Tien told her.

Videl's mouth hung open, God was going to such lengths just for "a friend of Gohan's"? Just how well did they know each other?

Finally the end came into view and Videl sighed in relief and began to slow down. Tien noticed this and slowed down with her as they reached the top of the strange towed.

"This still isn't the place you know?" Tien remarked with amusement, "It's further up." He told her.

"Seriously!? Any higher and we'll be in space!" she cried in disbelief.

"I'm serious, this is Korin's tower." Tien told her.

The young Martial Artist couldn't believe this. Then, as if on cue, a small anthropomorphic cat emerged from the depths of the tower.

"Hello Tien, what brings you here? Perhaps in need of Senzu beans?" he asked.

"Nothing like that, just stopping by before we head to the lookout." The Crane Master replied. At the mention of we, Korin noted Videl's presence.

"Interesting, you're a new face, who might you be miss?" he asked her with a friendly tone.

"Hello er… . I'm… ugh… Videl Satan…" was all she could get out in her nervousness.

"She's a friend of Gohan's, and a potential new addition to the group." Tien finished for her.

"I see, that explains it, I was wondering why I sensed Goku's boy shooting past faster than ever." He remarked, "Well I'll let you on your way then. Until next time Tien."

"Yeah, see you later Korin, let's go Videl." He said before flying upwards.

"Goodbye sir!" Videl called as she took off after Tien.

Eventually, with help from Tien, they made it to the top of the lookout and immediately Videl noticed that there was much more air here. She stood up straight and began looking around.

It was gorgeous, the sun was shining, their was a breeze that blew about the leaves and petals of the various trees and gardens that pockmarked the pristine white tiles just enough.

Then away from her was a massive mystical temple that looked partly inspired by Indian or Middle-eastern architecture but with a distinct unique touch that eluded her, though it dawned on her it was probably the other way around as this palace must have been here longer than any human. Each tower and peak was capped with brilliant Gold and the walls and floor were layed with the smoothest stone and concrete mix. It was graced with luxurious purple roofing on the 3 walkways that protruded from the palace at the front, left and write. And around it stood 4 thin, 30 foot-tall towers, though she was unsure of what purpose they served.

As she admired it she noticed Gohan, in his black-haired state, sitting on the tiles leaning against the wall of the temple. "Gohan!" she called out, running over to him, he didn't stir at her words which puzzled her but she kept moving.

She came to a stop at his side and waited for him to give some kind of response but he only remained silent. She reached out to touch him but was stopped just short.

"No wait don't touch him!" Called a young voice off to her side. She turned her head to see a short green boy with White Robes and a wooden staff approach her. Her jaw dropped at the boy as he reached her and came to a stop. Videl stood up straight as he began talking to her, "I'm sorry if I frightened you Miss but Gohan's body is in a terrible state right now and the slightest touch would cause him immense pain. He's been unconscious since he arrived." explicated the Lime Green youth before her who extended a hand upwards to greet Videl, as he did so his sleeve rode up his forearm and revealed more Green skin and strange Pink flesh on his bicep and forearm.

She had seen many different kinds of people on this Earth before but never had she seen anything resembling this person, she didn't want to offend them however and so only hesitated briefly before taking his hand in her own.

It felt mostly the same as a human hand she supposed but it was still a strange situation for her, "Hello Videl Satan, it's nice to meet you." He greeted formally, again shocking Videl in the process. How did he know her name? He said Gohan had been unconscious the whole time!

Tien walked over at that moment to interject, "Dende can read minds, that's how he knew your name and knew to change the conditions up here for you."

Videl's eyes widened. Was he seriously saying this Dende just read Gohan's unconscious mind and 'poof' knew what he needed to know!?

"That's crazy! How could this Dende-!" Videl paused midsentence, suddenly remembering Tien telling her the name of the Guardian.

"Videl, this is the Guardian of planet Earth." Tien introduced. Videl's whole world spun around her. She was in the presence of God himself and he had shook his hand. She suddenly felt at a loss for what to think or do. She decided bowing was a good start. She bowed respectfully to the short Green boy, "I apologise, I didn't know!" she apologised quickly.

She looked up to see him smiling warmly at her, "Hey no need to be so formal with me, I'm the new guy to this job, you've been here longer than I have Videl so relax." He responded kindly.

Videl took his advice and exhaled, trying to settle her body. When she felt she was ready she nodded before continuing, by now he had moved to Gohan and was emitting a strange Green light from his palms that coated Gohan. "Guard-er- Dende" she began hesitantly, "I hope you don't mind me asking, but you don't look like anyone I've met in my whole life, are you unique or…?" she trailed off waiting for a response from him.

"As a matter of fact there are plenty more people that-"

"HUAGH!" Gohan exclaimed, coughing up a mouthful of saliva as his muscles were sewn together and reattached to the bone by Dende's healing ability.

Videl could only watch with mild fear as he writhed and rolled in agony, surprising even Tien who winced, "What did Gohan do to himself to be hurting this badly!?" Tien called out over the pained yelling.

"He was using some kind of technique to increase his speed on the way here. That's all I could tell." Dende explained and Videl remembered the ability her classmate had displayed when they left his apartment.

"It was the Kaioken I think be said, he also used it all the way from his apartment to West City." She told them both causing their eyes to go wide with shock.

"He used the Kaioken WHILE he was a Super Saiyan!? That's insane! And to think he already did it earlier today!" Tien remarked aloud to himself in disbelief, this kid really was Goku's son.

Dende spoke next, "He must have really wanted to save these people, what a guy…"

Videl only looked on in concern, apparently Gohan had done something very risky for those people. He ruined his own body to save two strangers, what kind of person was Gohan? He seemed too kind to be real. He truly was a hero.

Soon Gohan stirred and returned to consciousness, having been fully repaired. He stood slowly and groaned as he stretched his sore muscles. "Are they okay Dende? He asked as he rolled his neck, stretching his stiff joints.

"They're fine Gohan, you were honestly in worse shape than they were by the time you got here." Earth's guardian commented lightly.

"You don't say" Gohan replied simply with a grin, "Thanks a lot for saving them Dende but I have a long flight back to West City ahead of me, so I have to get going." He told the young Namekian.

"You're planning on using the Kaioken to get there faster aren't you?" Dende asked suddenly, stopping Gohan in his tracks.

"Well yeah, it's the only way I'll get there before I die of old age!" He responded jokingly. Dende smiled at him but shook his head nonetheless.

"That ability puts too much strain on you Gohan, especially as a Super Saiyan. I won't always be able to heal you, and you're the only one on the Earth with enough power and purity to be relied on as champion." Sense explained in a rare assertive tone.

"You're being over-dramatic Dende" Gohan claimed in a care-free tone, "What about Vegeta?" he questioned to which Dende narrowed hi eyes.

"What _about_ Vegeta?" he shot back with a raised eyebrow.

 ***Cue Flashback of Vegeta slaughtering a village of Namekians and allowing Cell to reach his perfect form***

"Point taken…" Gohan admitted.

"Gohan I want you to promise me you won't use that technique more than once a day." Dende requested.

Gohan sighed in defeat and agreed reluctantly, "Well we have an increasingly long flight ahead of us Videl since I'm Kaio-grounded so we better get going." The son of Goku declared as they began walking to the edge of the temple with Tien in tow.

"Wait! I have a way to get you all there in a few minutes!" Dende called after them making them stop.

"How could you possibly get us 5000km across Earth in minutes?" Tien questioned in wonder.

"Easily! Mr Popo may I please have your assistance for a moment!" Dende called out to the palace.

Shortly after the lookout caretaker emerged from the temple and came to a stop beside the young Guardian, "Yes Dende?"

"These three need to get back to West Capitol as quickly as possible. I told them you could achieve this in moments, could you help them?" the Green alien questioned politely.

"Of course" he told Dende before turning to his charges, "One moment please." He said before retreating around a corner.

Gohan felt a light breeze and a Ki behind them and spun around to see the deity upon a floating carpet. Memories flooded Gohan at the sight of it and a huge grin split his face. "The magic carpet!" He exclaimed.

"Ive never seen that before…" Tien muttered with wide eyes.

"After the Saiyans invaded almost 13 years ago, Mr Popo used this carpet to take Bulma in West City to Kami's spaceship in Yunzabit Heights almost instantly!" Gohan exclaimed with wonder.

Tien and Videl's jaws dropped at this revelation. "I can't take you all at once." Popo explained simply.

"That's okay we'll do three-" suddenly Videl gave Gohan a panicked expression that begged not to be left alone with this strange, disconcerting man, "Ugh, two trips. I'll carry Videl when you take me."

"I'm in no rush, you two have somewhere to be so you can go first." Tien told them. Gohan nodded thankfully but objected nonetheless, "No, we'll wait for you there, you need to bring those humans with you and I want to be the one to bring that little girl her parents back.

Tien smiled and nodded in understanding, "Alright then I'll see you in a moment."

At that Gohan responded in kind and picked up Videl, both of them ignoring the strong blushes they wore as Gohan hopped up onto the carpet, Videl came to rest in Gohan's lap and suddenly Gohan wished he hadn't seen Videl's puppydog eyes. Videl wishing that she had just gone alone with the creepy genie man.

"First to the Police Station in West City please Mr. Popo, but low to the ground please" Gohan asked.

"Wait Gohan! Your hair!" Videl suddenly urged in worry making Gohan roll his eyes at his stupidity. He uttered thanks and with little more than a grunt ascended into Super Saiyan.

Once everyone was ready, there was a lurch and next thing they knew they moved so fast everything around them blurred together and it looked as if they were in a tunnel of mixed blues, greens and whites.

Then as quickly as it started it ended and they found themselves in an alleyway a block away from the Police Station. They jumped off and the Guardian caretaker.

And just like that suddenly the carpet was gone again to retrieve Tien and the humans. Videl was looking around frantically in disbelief. They were in West City, they hadn't been exaggerating the speed of that flying carpet!

still carrying Videl, Gohan coughed and put her down looking away. Videl blushed a deep red and the two remained in silence. Videl felt as if one of them had to say SOMETHING about all their awkward moments and address what might be happening. But right as she opened her mouth suddenly the carpet reappeared before them.

Tien looked with wide eyes at the teenagers, "It really is fast…" he muttered in surprise. The fighter shifted the people on his shoulders and hopped off the carpet, landing beside Gohan.

"Thank you Mr. Popo, you helped me out a bunch." Gohan thanked the Alladin-garb-wearing caretaker, bowing to him slightly.

"Of course Gohan, it was no trouble. I'll see you next time you visit." The black-skinned deity waved goodbye and disappeared completely with whooshing sound.

Gohan stepped forward and took the mother from Tien's arm and sat her against the Alley wall. Tien did the same with the woman's husband, guessing that's what he was supposed to do. Gohan crouched between them and explained what he was doing as he attempted to wake them up. "Apparently, to avoid them waking up and seeing him or the lookout, Dende used his Ki to strategically block their energy network at some of their vital points to keep them unconscious" he explained, remembering what the Green Guardian had explained while he was being healed, "I just have to reopen the flow fully to wake them up." Gohan finished, poking both of them at specific points on their temple, forehead, the sides of their neck and the center of their stomachs.

As he leaned back away from them the two began to stir, groaning in pain from the stiffness they would feel and the headaches they probably had. They stretched and blinked a few times before freaking out and shooting to their feet, looking themselves and each other over, they both stopped instantly when they saw Saiyaman and Videl Satan standing before them. "Where are we and what do you want with us?" the husband demanded with a mixture of fear and uncertainty in his tone as he positioned himself between them and his wife.

"Hello Mr and Mrs…um. You probably know me, I'm Saiyaman, the superhero. You two were hurt pretty bad but we were able to save you…" Gohan said lamely, scratching the back of his head.

The two parents of Sophia relaxed slightly as they were perplexed by the strange response they received and they looked at each other in confusion.

 **5 minutes later**

Gohan went through all the information that he had been given about the attack that victimised the couple. They grimaced once they were informed that the horrific event that had killed so many wasn't just a bad dream.

He went on explicating their incredible survival and his efforts to save them, obviously being vague or all-together leaving out the part about Dende's involvement in the matter. The two parents frantically questioned about their daughter Sophia, to which Videl responded that she had the girl placed under supervision by the Police, which is where they were going now.

Without hearing another word the married couple begged to be taken to their daughter. Videl went ahead of Gohan and Tien, leading the parents to the police station, with the two following behind them. Tien was in the middle of asking Gohan if he'd had any other significant encounters with the terrorist group lately when another distracted response made him follow the Saiyan's gaze to the girl before them.

Tien smirked knowingly, "You have it that bad huh?" He asked suddenly, making Gohan jolt back to reality.

"Huh? Who, Videl? No way, you know me Tien I have no time for girlfriends, I'm Earth's protector." Gohan defended quickly.

"Don't be ridiculous, your father was Earth's defender before you were born and he got married and had a kid, and you know how your father was" Tien responded sternly, Gohan nodded in acknowledgement, "He didn't feel how normal people do. You would excel where he didn't in the family department."

Gohan nodded once again and sighed, accepting defeat on this front of battle, though Tien decided not to push any further. A moment of silence passed before Tien smiled just a little, "You should have seen how Videl was with that little girl after you flew ahead. She's great with kids." He added innocently.

"She is?" he asked breathlessly before catching himself. Tien watched triumphantly as he saw Gohan blush like a freshman as the boy cleared his throat and shoved his hands in his pockets.

" _Heh, if only you were here to see this Goku…"_ he thought wistfully. It sure was surreal to be standing next to the full grown son of the boy he fought in his youth. Even long after Goku himself had died.

They watched as Videl made it through the front doors of the Police station and stood at the open doors, watching as they leaned on the doorframe. They watched with smiles as Sophia rushed from behind the chief and ran straight into her parents arms, squealing with childish glee. The parents laughed and held her close, asking if she was okay.

Videl stood beside them grinning from ear-to-ear when the Police Chief stopped by her side, "Thank you Videl, without your help they'd surely be dead now."

Videl's expression became a confused frown, "Eh? Me? No, I didn't really do anything, the real hero I-"

"Saiyaman!" someone in the building called out. Gohan turned to the source of the voice thinking a fan or something had noticed him, but then he noted the clenched fists, the flared nostrils and the way the man was stomping over to him, "You reckless son of a bitch!" the man accused grabbing for the collar of his shirt.

Gohan's years of training in Martial Arts and combat made him defend himself on reflex, he grabbed the officers extended arm and twisted it behind his back, he cried out in pain and anger and Gohan snapped out of it, pushing the cop gently away from him, making him stumble off balance.

He suddenly felt many pairs of eyes centered on him and as he looked around, a lot of them were looks of judgement, annoyance and caution. The officer who had insulted him turned back to face the man and had to be restrained by two other cops, "Your little stunt blowing up the building today put my son in hospital!"

Gohan's eyes widened in surprise and murmurs broke out around the building, "I didn't-your son-I-what?" be eventually settled on, completely confused.

"A chunk of rubble from your "act of heroism" hit my son in the head and almost killed him!" the cop lambasted the super hero.

Gohan's face paled and his mind went blank, "No you misunderstand, I…I didn't mean to hurt anybody!" he claimed in defense.

"Just like you didn't mean to wreck the industrial section of West City in your fight with that alien? Just like you didn't mean to put dozens in hospital in that explosion beneath Satan City huh!?" He questioned, making Gohan's mouth run dry. At this point he was carried away by the officer's holding him back.

Tien placed a hand on his shoulder, "Don't let it get to you. He's just afraid because his son is in hospital." He tried to comfort the emotionally torn teenager. The boy nodded but another once over of the people in the room sparked uncertainty in him. They looked on with fear, caution, worry and disdain. He couldn't help but have that man's words eat at him. His actions had consequences when he lived in a glass city and he was made of stone. Very unstable, temperamental stone at that.

Pulling him out of his thoughts was a tug at his pants, he looked down and saw the girl, Sophia was it? Standing there looking at him with a big grin, "Thanks for fixing my mommy and daddy Saiyaman, I think you're the bestest hero ever!" the girl told him with a big nod. Most of Gohan's worries and doubts dissipated as he smiled back at the little girl, giving her a thumbs up, "It's what I do." He responded with a gentle gone.

After a talk with the parents who were eternally grateful for his actions, the trio left the happy family and headed in their directions, Tien go fulfill Gohan's request and find a place near Gohan that he could live. Gohan and Videl meanwhile made their way to Capsule Corp. Headquarters.

"We are more than a little late but Bulma won't mind, I'll just tell her that I ran into some trouble, she'll understand." Gohan thought out loud to ease Videl's concerns a little.

She sighed in relief, right, it still baffles me that not only are you a Super Hero, but you are on a first-name basis with THE Bulma Briefs. You're just one mystery after the other Son Gohan." Videl critiqued her friend in a light-hearted manner that made Gohan flash her a mischievous smirk.

"You don't even know the half of it Videl." He admitted vaguely, making Videl almost wish she hadn't given Gohan until after the tournament to spill the beans. Almost.

 _A.N. I would have had this up a few days earlier if my phone line didn't completely shoot itself. They sent me an obligatory phone to be used as a hotspot while a technician goes out and repairs my line but the speed of this internet is really limited and it hurts that I might not have full internet and phone privileges back until early next week. Hopefully this weekend tho. Anyway next chapter is a little longer than normal to compensate, already 1000 words into the next chapter so stay tuned, it shouldn't be more than 3 weeks until the next one if all goes well. Review response time now I suppose._

 _DBZfan the first: Thanks for the review, unfortunately this chapter is mainly character development and not a lot of action, hope you can wait for the next one._

Guest: Those are all VERY valid points and im glad you thought of them, but I'm not using ANY sources. I fully understand the actual multipliers in the manga and that no base Saiyan in Z But Potential Unlocked Gohan and Gotenks is stronger than Frieza. But I did explicitly say at the beginning that all characters would be toned down so feats would be easier to calculate and powers easier to scale upwards throughout the story.

And no Vegeta being SLIGHTLY stronger pre-majin is not favoritism, as Gohan is my favorite character, followed closely by Vegeta and Piccolo (who is not even in this story so far) which just goes to show you strength of characters isn't dictated by who I like more but by what's needed for the plot. (For example I eventually plan to get into material from DB Super and for the first half of it Gohan will be significantly weaker than Goku and Vegeta due to their God powerups.)

But keep in mind that Gohan was angry when he fought Cell, and Gohan gets a boost from his anger (evidenced by the whole Frieza arc, his transformation in the Cell arc and the early Buu Saga.) So while Gohan did train for a little of those 7 years, his increase is only relative to his CALM power from the Cell Games. Which, if you look at my latest power scale, puts current calm Gohan slightly above his angry Cell Games self. Current Vegeta is ever so slightly stronger than calm Gohan but as I plan to touch on next chapter, angry Gohan was enough to take out Broly and survive the explosion in Satan City earlier on.

So just as Vegeta remarked in the Buu Saga right before the fight with Dabura, he's surpassed Gohan, but there's no way of knowing what could happen if Gohan were to get angry like against Cell. Well I know and let's say it should satisfy your gripe with Vegeta being portrayed as a little stronger. I'm glad you made this review honestly, I'm glad there are other people in this community with a deep understanding of powers and multipliers in DBZ. I almost thought I was the only one.

Time Patrol Sage: Yes I know they mastered their Super Saiyan form to that degree but mind you Gohan hadn't trained a lot in the years between Cell and Buu. In fact after Buu blasts Gohan into that forest he fell unconscious and turned back to his baseform. As for being stronger than Frieza in Base. Look at the start of the response above yours, I explained why Base Saiyans are stronger than Frieza. Glad you're enjoying it otherwise.

Ignis Draconem: It is science, at least to a degree, DBZ is kinda funny with it scientific laws like characters much faster than light not collapsing and creating black holes and what not but we ignore that stuff because Toriyama isn't some kind of physicist so I forgive and ignore.


	14. Chapter 14: Fangirls are lame

A.N: Some themes in this chapter may seem like they were ripped off from a certain DC movie that recently came out but they are actually inspired by a few other Gohan fics where a lot of Earth hates him. I can't remember the 1st one's name but Gohan's Super Hero alias was Demon or Devil or something and he trained Goten, Trunks and Marron. And then the Fic of the previous owner of this account called Poor Mr Son dealt with similar themes. I will not deny however that this DC movie did inspire my _execution_ of this plot point. Just wanted to clear that up.

Soon enough Capsule Corp came into view before them and the male of the due dropped back to his Black Hair mode or whatever he called it and came to a stop above the building itself. Gesturing for her to follow him Gohan floated down to the backyard of Capsule Corp. And touched down quietly. He sensed a mass of Ki signatures within the building and figured that's where his class was. "Our class is this way Videl. I think I sense Sharpener and Erasa and I definitely sense Bulma." Gohan explained as she touched down beside him.

The duo made their way through the halls making small talk, and something that had been eating at Videl finally made it to the forefront of the girl's mind.

"Gohan, back on the street earlier today, you were angry clearly about the innocent lives lost but that little girl made you feel something different. You lost control…I know I said I didn't want to pry too much, but I feel like this is important enough to be brought up" Videl started cautiously, measuring her tone and his expression, making sure she wasn't going to make him clam up defensively, "I've never seen you like that before" she continued, noting he showed no signs of a negative reaction, "That cloaked guy who attacked us dealt you physical injury but these murderers who couldn't hold a candle to you hurt you far worse…do you want to talk about it?" she asked tentatively.

When he sighed heavily Videl feared that he was going to push her away but to her surprise without so much as another word he began explaining it.

"I told you before most of my life was spent in conflict. My whole life has been spent in bloody battles to the death over the fate of the Earth. At age 4 I was kidnapped by my uncle who was a mercenary who did terrible things. Then my dad's greatest enemy took me to the wilderness and left me to survive for 6 months on my own, then for the next 6 months after that he trained me in Martial Arts in an attempt to bring out my latent potential, which is achieved via rage. Then my uncles mercenary friends showed up with the intent to kill a lot of people so me and my dad's friends tried to defend it as my father himself was…incapacitated…from his fight with my uncle." Gohan paused then as his eyes turned distant, bringing up a distant memory.

"Of the 6 of us that went out there, only me and 1 other survived the battle. Every single one of them died right in front of me. A few times, due to the powerful combination of DNA that is my genetic makeup, my combined rage and fear made me strong enough to momentarily overpower them but once my strength returned to normal they beat me and my dad's other friend to within an inch of our lives." Videl's eyes widened with each passing minute. This guy…he really had it bad.

"Seeing that girl there, barely old enough to understand what was happening around her, surrounded by death, by blood, crying and screaming. It triggered my least favorite memories and sparked an anger in me. It was like I was watching my childhood from my father's perspective, the only thing standing between a helpless, innocent child, and terrible murderous monsters. And I was so determined to save everyone I could, even at the cost of my own life, just like he did…" Gohan trailed off there, stopping in the middle of the hallway. Visions of his friends dying, innocent life being taken, and his father's smiling face flashed before his eyes. He was brought out of his thoughts when he was enveloped in a warm hug from the much shorter teenager.

He could tell she was on the brink of tears but he wasn't sure why? Had he hurt her feelings? "Oh Gohan, I'm sorry…the pain in your eyes…the memories I made you relive…I wish I hadn't asked, I'm so sorry Gohan." She apologised fervently, holding him tighter. He blushed at the contact but awkwardly hugged her back averting his eyes away. Thank god Vegeta wasn't here to see this, he wasn't sure he'd ever live this down.

After a few moments the Raven-haired girl pulled away slightly, craning her neck to look Gohan in the face, catching him by surprise by the genuine care sparkling in her Blue eyes. It was stunning how pretty she could suddenly become in a moment's notice, "Are you okay? I haven't hurt your feelings have I?" she asked cautiously. Again the amount of care and sympathy she directed with her expression and voice baffled the warrior, who had only known pain, pride, anger and fear his whole life. He felt a new emotion bubbling in the pit of his stomach and despite the heavy, fluttery feeling it ailed him with, he wanted to lose himself in it. He blushed even deeper and dumbly nodded at her with an embarrassing grin. Internally he threw up at the weakness he was showing but his body wasn't getting memo apparently.

Videl smiled back at him and he felt like he would die any moment now, he almost wished he would, so as to relieve himself of his weakness. Thankfully Videl had the sense to move on while he just stood there smiling like an idiot. "That's good, let's go then, our field trip awaits us!"

Gohan shook away the feeling, glancing away from the girl as he continued walking, _"How can I let myself be affected so strongly while Videl doesn't bat an eye, dammit Gohan!"_ HD mentally chided himself, meanwhile little did he know, Videl's heart was beating every bit as fast as her friend's and her face had grown just as warm the moment she looked away.

They were walking through a particularly large space when Gohan suddenly turned to look past Videl at something and his face warped into a snarl, he pushed the girl out the way and stuck his stretched palm out. Videl watched as an instant later the space where her head was became occupied by a Basketball-sized Ki Blast. Gohan contained the ball with his energy and twisted his torso to the side, noting an open window, he swung his hand towards the window and released the energy out into the sky.

Gohan bent down to help Videl up off the floor with an apologetic smile on his face. "You stopped that attack before it got near you brat." A gruff voice commented. Videl looked at a nearby doorway to her left and saw Bulma's husband, who she now knew as Vegeta, leaning against a doorframe casually.

"Oh, it's just you Vegeta. Tch, guess I didn't slack as much as you thought huh?" Gohan shot back with a mix of ego and annoyance.

"Hmph, I wouldn't say that. If you trained the full 7 years you would be far beyond me, we wouldn't be as close in power as we are." Vegeta replied, but surprisingly there was no malice to his voice, in fact he seemed to be thinking about something.

" _This is new. A week ago I was sure I had surpassed the boy, but for a brief instant I could have sworn his power raised astronomically"_ he pondered privately within the recesses of his mind. As a matter of fact he remembered sensing a similar spike in the boy's power when Broly had come back.

As his lady friend, the human girl, was pulled back to her feet he wondered if the two events perhaps had something in common…Wait that was it! How could he have been such a fool? The girl! The girl was always present, if it was indeed his mate then it was possible that his need to protect gave him some kind of strength and perhaps he wasn't imagining the power boost.

This was somewhat irritating but in a way it was comforting that if he WAS by some chance weaker than Kakarot when this tournament came around, at least the successor in his son may be more powerful yet and was more Saiyan-like to boot thanks to the Prince's own proud influence over the years. But there was no point in dwelling on this as these spikes of power could just be due to hormones and unreliable. Vegeta had never even INDISPUTABLY sensed Gohan's Ki at a level greater than what he currently wielded.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say Vegeta, next time how about you just say hello?" Gohan remarked cheekily. Causing Vegeta to 'hmph' in annoyance at him.

"Next time, I'll drag your lazy-ass to the Gravity Chamber and lay a royal beating on you." The Prince bit back scathingly.

"Sure you will, look me and Videl have to go catch up with Bulma and my class so if you'd be so kind as to let us past…"

Vegeta scowled more deeply but stepped to the side nonetheless, "Cursed weaklings taking up residence in my dwelling" Vegeta muttered under his breath before continuing a little louder.

"And for what!? So they can feebly attempt to grow their ignorant minds? They can't even wrap their minds around the fact that an obvious peacekeeper with special abilities is a good thing for their insignificant species, how could they possibly wrap their peabrains around the concepts of Capsule technology or space travel?!" he ranted.

The start of that part caught Gohan's ear, "Peacekeeper with abilities…" Gohan reached out to make sure no one was around, "You mean me?" Gohan asked in a hushed tone, suddenly paying rapt attention.

Vegeta merely hummed in affirmation before signalling for Gohan to follow him into the next room. Videl and Gohan walked after him as he approached a remote control on a table, "The people on this mudball have been particularly ungrateful as of late." Vegeta lifted the remote and pointed it at a large TV on the wall.

With a touch of a button it came to life and the Prince began flipping through the various news channels. Gohan's eyes progressively widened as he read headline after headline; "Saiyaman A Loose Cannon?" "Friend or Foe?" "Vigilante gone wild" "Super Hero or Super Zero?" "Double Agent Vigilante" "Planet Earth's real threat!"

"Who writes this bullshit!? You do nothing but help people!" Videl bellowed indignantly.

"Your fellow Earthlings don't seem to agree." Vegeta remarked evenly.

"Ridiculous! There must be plenty others who disagree!" Videl claimed confidently.

"There are, for now, but the World government is currently holding a meeting and discussing what to do about the surge of "Super-powered beings", as if they have any control over what we do."

Throughout this whole conversation Gohan remained quiet as he listened to the various reporters commenting on him, "He is NOT above the law! Vigilantism is an offense and he should be taken into custody!" One said.

"But you must see that many people agree that he's a hero! That couple he saved from certain death today can certainly attest to that!" someone argued in his defense.

"Tell that to the man his actions put in hospital, and the father of said man he injured in an altercation at downtown WCPD only an hour ago. He thinks he's some kind of force of nature, free to do what he wants! I say we put him behind bars now before he and his cronies turn on us! We here at West City during the recent Alien invasion have seen the destruction his kind bring."

"Gohan? Hey are you okay?" Videl asked with concern, his fists were clenched and he looked pissed.

"Yeah" Gohan replied with a deep voice, deceivingly calm, "I'm okay."

 **15 minutes later: With Bulma**

"When Vegeta told me your Ki was all over the place, I didn't think he LITERALLY meant all over Earth" Bulma chuckled after being told the story of why Gohan and his friend were hours late to the field trip, "Sounds like you've had quite the day kiddo, I don't envy you hero types." Bulma joked as she had a message sent to the highschool confirming both Gohan and Videl had arrived as she said they would, because apparently written notes from a guardian weren't enough anymore.

"Well you missed the initial tour of the coloured arrows and signs and general way-finding about the facility but its really easy and more just a formality. You also missed the long winded safety precaution rules, fortunately for you we'll just pretend I spent all this time explaining it to you but seeing as you're in on the conspiracy now I'm not concerned about you finding anything abnormal." The genius joked before pushing her rolling chair back and standing up.

"I'll take you back out to your class in the 'fun wing' as one of your classmates so affectionately referred to it as." She told them, walking them back to their class for appearances sake so she looked professional to the class.

The walk was short and soon enough they were walking through a door to a wing boasting consoles, TVs, through a door there was a gym, on the opposite side a door leading to an outside area with a pool, a few hot tubs, and a garden with a few games set up. Videl gawked in awe and Gohan's eyes widened slightly. The boy had seen Capsule Corps extent plenty but Bulma really made this a teenagers heaven.

"Alright everyone Videl and Gohan turned up, I'm sure you'll be able to lay out for them this wing. A robot will come by in a few hours once I finalize everything with room arrangements based on your preferences from earlier today. As you were." Bulma called out over the activities, gaining some form of acknowledgement or another from most of the teens.

She turned on her heel and left, leaving Gohan and Videl to be rushed by various students. Videl by Sharpener, Erasa, and a few of Videl's other friends and Gohan by the single female populace of his class. He wondered what spurred the sudden forwardness of his class but he kept a straight face, knowing better than to let them see his fear.

"Gohaaaaan, where have you beeeen?"

"Class was boring without you to check out!"

"Do you want to come join me in the hot tub?"

Without really thinking about it he replied, "Actually the hot tub sounds pretty cool right about now. But I'd have to go to my room to change."

There was a collective squealing noise before one of the smarter girls made a comment. "Wait how do you know where your room is already? "

Gohan looked at her funny, "Because being Bulma's godson means I've stayed here more than once you know, I have my own room for when I visit." Be responded as if it were before realising he had just let slip something very important.

Another collective squeal, "You have your own room, separate from the guest areas?" someone asked.

Gohan looked confused as not one of the girls questioned the bit about Bulma. "Yyyeah it's just around the corner but it's a bit bigger and what not…" he told them cautiously.

"You should totally go get changed and come in the hot tub with us!" A girl insisted vehemently.

"Yeah and it'll be a good opportunity to show me where your room is in case I want to…'visit' you at some point." Another girl told him with a tone that made Gohan extremely skeptical of their intentions.

He ignored it however and just turned and left the room with a crowd of girls in tow. When the crowd cleared however Videl was left standing frozen before Erasa, who was trying to get her attention.

She had been in the middle of her conversation about how she'd been doing some special training when she had heard that last implication from a girl in the crowd, "Oh HELL no!" She declared making her Blonde friends' raise their brows.

"What, what did they say?" Erasa enquired. Clearly something about the fan-girling they had just witnessed didn't sit right with Videl for some rea-ohmygod she liked Gohan.

"A few of those prissy sluts are planning to seduce him!" she screeched. Shapener's eyes widened further at Videl's choice of words, she wasn't normally so judgemental. Why was she-oh shit brains hit the jackpot.

"That's not really fair Videl, they're hormonal teenagers and Gohan is just such a dreamboat floating on an oasis, you can't really blame them." Erasa reasoned with a raised brow and a smirk.

"The hell I can't! I'm making sure that NOBODY rides this dreamboat if I have to punch every girl in our cohort!" Videl declared with determination, making Sharpener cough awkwardly at Videl's double-meaning.

Erasa's eyes twinkled with signs of mischief and joy, "If I didn't know any better Videl, I'd say it sounds like YOU want to ride the dreamboat." Erasa implied with a suggestive tone that made Videl look at her with a bright red face and an expression that made the Blonde feel like she had said something scandalously dirty.

"This conversation just became extremely uncomfortable…" Sharpener decided aloud after coughing audibly and so he walked off to see what the other guys were doing to leave his two friends to do "girl talk" without him.

"I-Erasa that's-" Videl stuttered, clearly embarrassed by the very thought of such a thing.

"Oh come-on Videl, it's clear that you have feelings for him. You are 100% jealous of those girls trying to take your man!" Erasa layed on.

Videl huffed at her, "Erasa listen to yourself. Me liking Gohan? That doesn't even sound right." She remarked with a proud turning up of her nose at the idea.

"Well then you should have no problems with Gohan having sex with every girl in the cohort if he so chooses right? You don't care that he's probably going to have our classmates all over him in that hot tub?" Erasa goaded making Videl faulter a bit.

There was a silent moment before any reply was made, "Okay so maybe I think he's a little cute and interesting, what's your point?"

"You can't let them corrupt that boy. You need to strike while he's naïve and clueless. You two are close now right?" Erasa questioned. She assumed the answer was yes based on the fact that they both stopped coming to school and were "training" together when she had called.

"Well yeah, I stayed the night at his apartment, I know a lot about him, he considers me a best friend." Videl told Erasa hesitantly, purposely leaving out the fact that they had almost shared a kiss not too long ago.

"Perfect! It sounds to me like if you clung to him and insinuated to the girls that they stood no chance he'd be none the wiser right?" Erasa asked confidently.

"Probably but you forget that as naïve as he is, he's still a teenager and I doubt he'd be blind to pretty girls in not much clothing warming up to him." Videl pointed out.

"True, but the solution to that is simple, you just have to outshine them!" Erasa declared as if it were the most obvious thing.

Videl's face paled at the suggestion as she felt a great sense of apprehension at whatever her friend was about to suggest.

"He's going in the hot tub right? All you have to do is let me make you look irresistible to the guy and get all his attention on you." Videl gulped at this nervously because she knew she wouldn't be able to turn down such a good plan.

"Okay…" she muttered with a scowl and blush, "But how do we stop them from getting to him at night?" She questioned her best friend.

The blonde girl took a moment to try and think of a solution to the problem, "There'd have to be some reason that you couldn't use your room…but what would it be?" she questioned thoughtfully.

An idea sprung to Videl's mind as she tried to focus on the non-suggestive perspective of her plan. "Erasa I have a plan, don't ask now just…ugh, just help me get ready for Gohan to come back please." Videl requested.

Her friend pumped her fist and grinned in victory before grabbing her crime-fighting companion by the shoulders and steering her to a washroom.

 ***Meanwhile: With Gohan***

The warrior knew he had made a mistake now, these girls were prodding and squeezing his upper body and he struggled to do nothing but pry himself away and politely ask for some room.

He really wished he had asked Videl to come with him. Even Erasa or Sharpener would do. He finally arrived at his room and put his keycard into the slot. It beeped and unlocked his door, allowing him to get in.

The girls rushed in after him, looking around at his personal space. It was slightly nicer than their own rooms and it contained a huge, seemingly very comfortable, double bed. They 'ooh'ed and 'ahh'ed and he just rolled his eyes to himself.

"Alright, I need to change now so could you all please step outside. I won't be long." He asked with his most polite tone, there was a collective groan as they made their way out the room. One of the bolder girls stepped up to him.

"Are you sure I can't stay and help you Gohan?" she asked with puppy eyes that made Gohan feel a little bad, but he stood his ground.

"No thank you that won't be necessary. I'm just changing my clothes, what could I possibly need help for?" He asked nicely but was inwardly sighing exasperatedly as she layed a hand on his chest.

"Well…" she began suggestively as the other girls looked on in jealous horror, "I don't have to help you with that part, but there are plenty of other ways that I could help you." The seductress hinted as her hand slid down his chest and beelined for below his belt, but Gohan was far quicker. He caught her hand as it reached his lower abdominals and he became sterner with the girl.

" .you." he empasised, "Now leave, please." He told her. The girl looked slightly disappointed but nodded regardless and made her way out the room with Gohan in two.

She walked out the door with the rest of the group and Gohan moved to close the door behind her, she stopped him one last time to tell him to come to her first if he changed his mind. He told her with a fake polite smile that he'd keep that in mind before he closed the door and moved over to his cupboard to change.

As he selected a pair of shorts to wear and began changing clothes he decided that having to defend Earth from tyrants was the lesser of two evils when compared to dealing with fangirls.

At least there was an aspect of those tyrant attacks he enjoyed, physical activity, Martial Arts, pushing his body, exercise. It was at least therapeutic. Dealing with hormonally-charged teenage girls who he had no interest in lacked any real appeal. He sighed deeply after changing and made his way back to the door. He hoped something exciting happened soon, he didn't care what it was…

 ***Meanwhile: Somewhere underground***

"Good evening Gentleman. I thank you all for finding time to come here today. I trust you all left your King Furry in the dark as I requested?" a man hidden in shadow questioned the group of high ranking officials. Everyone in the room made a gesture or sound of affirmation.

"Good, then let's get right to the point, each of you are here because we have something in common, we all want Saiyaman brought to his knees!" The figure spat vehemently. "The general populace fear him, a small portion even hate him. For my own personal reasons I too want him brought down. So I would like to aid you all in achieving our goal."

"And how exactly do you plan to do that?" Questioned a general for the world army, "He's been hit with bullets, missiles, knives, grenades, energy blasts and come out unscathed, he can level mountain ranges and incinerate people and structures in their entirety!"

"I am fully aware of what he is capable of, I have technology that has injured him before and can even render him powerless, allowing you to do with him what you will whether for experimentation" he suggested, turning his gaze to the head of research and scientific development, "To weaponise him" he cast a glance to the general, "Or for public approval" his gaze met that of the Mayor of West City.

"All I need are your resources so that I can apply my technology in a way that could actually bring him down for good." The figure explained with a measured tone, "So are you in?" he questioned, receiving multiple nods from the room, "Good…then let's begin…"

 ***Soon After: With Videl***

It was taking forever for Erasa to find an outfit that wasn't too revealing but complimented her strengths and would catch Gohan's eye more than the other girls. As luck would have it he was just now finishing a conversation with Sharpener and the girls were trying to drag him to the hot tub.

He scowled in slight annoyance and caved, moving towards the hot tub, he reached the edge and pulled his shirt off over his head, gathering squeals and gawking from the harem of girls chasing him. Even Videl allowed herself a moment to stare before remembering she was supposed to 'wow' him, not the other way around.

She gathered herself and marched forward confidently, a few of the girls saw her coming and gaped at what they were seeing and what it meant for their own plans. "Hey Gohan…" she greeted smoothly, the only trace of her nervousness was the slight pink hue to her cheeks.

"Hey Vi…del…" he trailed off halfway through at seeing her, she stepped in closer, brushing his stomach with her chest by just the barest of margins. She splayed each of her palms on his chest, "I overheard you saying that you were going to the hot tub, but I never got the invite, I thought we were close?" she said in a staged hurt tone.

"Im so sorry Videl I didn't think you'd want to, of course we're close, please come with." He offered apologetically.

"Okay if you're sure you want me here…" she added, sounding unsure.

He couldn't stop it completely and Gohan's eyes dipped and glanced at her as a whole for a split second, "I definitely do." He responded with a deceivingly even tone.

" _It's working! He just checked me out!"_ the girl inwardly exclaimed near-girlishly. She was surprised by how much she was enjoying this. He was obviously attracted to her and she wanted to know how much, against her better judgement. Gohan stepped down into the hot water before taking a seat on the upper ring , leaving only his chest and above dry.

Videl saw her chance and swiftly dropped into the water next to him. The water nearly reached her chin and she grinned inwardly at her new plan, "Gohan…I hate to bother you but this water level is too high, could I sit on your lap, just so I don't have to worry about inhaling any water or wetting my hair too much?" she asked, biting her bottom lip shyly.

"O-Of course Videl, I understand, um sure." He affirmed with a nervous tone that made Videl grin.

"Thanks Gohan, you're the best." She thanked as she sat her mostly uncovered lower half on his lap, receiving death glares and evil eyes from the other girls and she revelled in it, wiggling in Gohan's lap to stir both him and the swarm of girls up. Gohan gulped audibly and she felt a spark in her stomach. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all...

The hours of late evening passed quickly for the teens. Videl spent the whole time trying to balance being alluring and seeming innocent of anything intentional and it gave her a little excitement, which surprised her. But mostly she was just proud that she managed to keep Gohan's attention on her rather than the girls that pursued him. Meanwhile however Gohan was conflicted by his pride as a warrior and his undeniable attraction to Videl, further amplified by the memory of almost sharing a kiss with her during their training.

He decided it was a good time to get out the hot tub and socialise with the 2 blondes and he told Videl as much. She agreed with him and they climbed out the hot tub and began drying off with their towels. As they were drying a robot came out with their sleeping arrangements. It had a chart that had the lists of who would be staying where. Girls stayed with girls and guys stayed with guys as one would expect. Videl saw her name with Erasa and fist pumped, it'd be so much easier to put her plan in motion without some stranger watching her every move. She grabbed her stuff and took it back to her and Erasa's dedicated room.

Sharpener bopped Gohan in the shoulder with his fist, it hurt like he had just hit a wall or something but he ignored this and continued, "Yo Brains! You didn't tell me you were jacked!" Sharpener remarked good-naturedly.

Gohan just smirked at him, "You never asked me, nor did a conversation ever come up where me saying, 'yo by the way I lift' would be relevant."

"Ohhhh, so you're a smart ass are you? Alright let's see if you got the muscle to tussle with us-le!" Sharpener challenged loudly, causing Gohan to raise a brow at him.

When Videl returned she found Gohan doing a push-up competition with Sharpener and a few of the other boys. Some had already dropped out and were staring in amazement as Gohan kept going, only Sharpener and one other were still going. The crowd chanted each push-up as they were completed.

"60! 61! 62! 63!-" at that moment the 3rd guy dropped to his chest breathing heavily. Sharpener saw this happen and became fearful. He too was exhausted and was barely hanging on through it, trying to outlast Gohan. They broke 70 seventy and Sharpener felt ready to collapse. He looked to the side and saw that Gohan was smiling! There wasn't a bead of sweat on him and he hadn't slowed down or changed at all. This guy was insane! Lacking the strength and willpower to continue against this unstoppable machine, the blonde teen gave in and allowed his body some much needed reprieve. The child went wild cheering Gohan's name as he stood up, the winner. Sharpener lay on the ground, his muscles burning and his throat dry, drenched in sweat. Erasa ran over and helped him, pulling him up to his feet.

Gohan came to stand infront of the panting boy. "Guess this means I've got the muscle?" Gohan asked sarcastically making Sharpener laugh.

"Yeah, you're one bad motherfucker Gohan." While everyone was buzzing in excitement or moping in disappointment about their room arrangements and just generally enjoying themselves a gruff loud voice suddenly split the air, silencing them all. Everyone looked in the direction of the door and saw the short, blue and white-clad husband of Bulma standing at the door, "Gohan." Vegeta stated seriously and with no context. The teen in question noticed that Vegeta had used his real name rather than some insulting nickname and knew it was important.

Gohan turned and started walking towards the man, leaving everyone confused, "Gohan, dude! Where are you going?" Sharpener called out to him.

"Sorry guys this sounds important, I'll be back." Gohan assured as Vegeta stalked back down the hall, Gohan jogged after the stout warrior and disappeared inside.

Everyone remained quiet for a little while, staring after where the two had left, "Gohan sure is one mysterious guy..." Erasa commented, earning a nod of agreement from Sharpener and a few others.

Videl looked on worried with concern, wondering what could be wrong now. Just then she got a buzz on her watch. She looked and it was a message from the chief. When she read what it said her eyes widened and she bolted after Gohan, hoping to catch him, leaving everyone even more confused.

"Videl wait! Where are you going!?" Erasa called out, receiving no response at all. "What's going on with all this Sharpie?" Erasa asked in concern, biting her thumb nail out of nervousness.

The blonde jock didn't know how to respond to that question, he merely put a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder and wondered privately. Something very strange was definitely going on all around Earth.

Meanwhile Gohan stood before a television beside Vegeta for the second time that day. Eyes wide and features of shock on his face. Vegeta looked at the boy out the corner of his eye as he spoke, "I have lived on this planet for many years now. The populace has always been ignorant, stupid, fearful and war-mongering, almost more so than the Saiyan's themselves. But something about this doesn't feel right at all..." The proud prince explained to the younger fighter who nodded mutely,

"...Gohan..." Vegeta called. Gohan's eyes darted to the corner looking right at Vegeta, "I would advise you to not go..."

Videl entered the room right at that moment, expression and posture that of a frenzied person, "Gohan! I just got the message from the chief at Satan City! They-!" She stopped abruptly when she saw the new's headline on the tv before them, and her blood ran both hot from rage and cold from fear simultaneously.

 **"SAIYAMAN, PUBLIC ENEMY NO.1!"**

Okay now this chapter took a little long but I have an exciting announcement. The original owner of this account and the author of previous work "Poor Mr Son" stopped writing the story for lack of passion for writing anymore. However he has agreed to draw up a MANGA for this story all the way up to the end of the Buu Saga! It'll probably take awhile to catch up to where this fiction is but if you want to see all the action and drama unveil in manga form then follow the profile 'SSJ-Homeboy' on Deviant Art and he'll start posting chapters ASAP. Some will be out sooner than other's mind you depending on how much effort has to go into each drawing, but they'll come up.

Edit: He just put up an early concept sketch for Gohan on the account now

And no just so you know the manga will not be done in colour in it's initial run, it may be coloured and touched up after it is completed supposedly so let's hope for that coz I personally find the Black and White confusing sometimes.


	15. Chapter 15: Birth Of Saiyaman

Cruzerblade: Yeah I got the idea for the public enemy thing from a fic called Demon's Disciple, check it out if you like! But be warned it hasn't been updated since last time I checked. Here's the next chapter for you!

dbzfanthe1st: Yeh

Apocalypse1950: I'm glad you think so, it's in part inspired by Superman's public image in Batman V Superman (regardless of what people think of the movie) and another fic called Demon's Disciple and one called Poor Mr Son, check them out!

Reign Of Sorrow: Yeah fam, there's a whole mini arc about it, so look forward to that.

Jrayeni: THAT'S THE ONE YEAH! Demon's disciple! Thanks for that! And eventually Gohan WILL use it you just gotta be a liiiittle patient.

Gabelou1991: I don't speak french but I'll do my best to respond to that. Thank you for your review and sorry if I'm making you impatient with the long waits lately. If I misunderstood what you said I'm very sorry but Google Translate is not the best.

"Saiyaman, if you're seeing this broadcast, you have 3 days to submit to a trial of your case" the government presenter stated, "but know that if you do not show up, you WILL be classified as an armed and dangerous terrorist." They finished threateningly.

The crowd of paparazzi buzzed loudly taking photos and talking over each other in an attempt to get the scoop. They were ignored and silenced by the security.

"A government escort will be awaiting you at a certain location. The details to this location will be in the air craft circling West City for the duration of this waiting period. Collect the information and head to the designated area where you will be escorted to your trial." At the end of this explanation the mayor walked away, refusing to answer any questions about the matter.

"If they have this "air-craft" set up for you why don't you just get escorted from directly below wherever the ship is?" Vegeta questioned skeptically, "Why create a whole separate location and waste more time? It doesn't make sense…"

"Im sure you're overthinking it Vegeta, it's government sanctioned," Videl commented placatingly.

"So you're suggesting that "government sanctioned" means there's no chance of foul play and that Gohan just offer himself up on a Silver platter?" The Prince bit back snidely.

The teenage girl's nostrils flared, "Hey! I don't like this anymore than you do! I'm just saying that maybe it's worth it trying to resolve this peacefully. If we can negotiate with criminals then why not government officials right?" Videl suggested optimistically to the two super-beings before her.

"I agree." Gohan stated simply before marching out the room and briskly making his way across the hallways of Capsule Corp leaving Vegeta's eyes as wide as Videl's smug grin. Vegeta shot her a glare before following the son of his rival to question his decision with Videl in tow.

"You can't be serious boy! There's something clearly not right here! This girl WORKS for the government, did that cross your mind when she made such a naïve suggestion?" Vegeta prodded in frustration.

"Hey, wait a minute! What are you saying!?" Videl remarked, offended and growing angry at the mere implication.

"I trust Videl and value her word." Gohan answered, eyes flashing dangerously as they locked with Vegeta's.

"Tch, more than the word of your kin and comrade?" Vegeta muttered quietly, surprising Gohan. "Whatever weakling, I don't care what happens to you anyway, best case scenario you die and there's no one left to stop me from ruining this back-water mud-ball." He continued with irritation and contempt in his every word. "Don't come crying to me when they betray you like all cowards do." At that the offended Prince walked away.

"Yeesh what crawled up his ass and died? I don't get how you can be friends with someone that rude and insensitive!" Videl declared to herself while crossing her arms indignantly.

Gohan merely smiled sadly at the prince. "He's really not all that bad once you get to know him." Gohan remarked thinking back to all the two warriors had endured together. "He's a very proud warrior, and he considers me the last of his kin."

Videl listened intently to this piece of information and found herself feeling more and more sorry for the angry man.

"There's Goten and Trunks of course but I get the sense it isn't the same to him…they aren't warriors, they haven't experienced what he and I have. After my father died I think deep down he felt alone in the universe. I've hurt the closest thing he has to feelings by taking your word over his. I hope I'm right." Gohan muttered the last part.

"Do you plan to mozey on over in your jeans? Coz in case you forgot, your last Gi was damaged in the fight with Broly." Videl pointed out, eyeing the teen up and down.

"I'll need a new outfit, yes. So to Bulma it is then." Gohan pointed out before starting in the direction of Bulma's Ki, with Videl in tow. They made their way to Bulma who was working on some kind of machinery when they arrived. She heard their footsteps approaching and turned in a huff, dropping her tool on the bench.

"I told you if you broke it again I wouldn't fix your damn-!" she stopped when she realised that her visitors weren't her mysterious and irritable husband but in fact Gohan and his lady-friend. "Oh, it's just you Gohan. Sorry about that, I thought you were somebody else." Bulma apologised with a guilty smile.

"Bad time? I can come back later if you like." Gohan offered politely, not wanting to bother the stressed out woman.

"No, please, distract me from this thing. It's driving me nuts." She jerked an annoyed thumb back at her machine.

"I don't suppose you've come with something for me to do have you? I need the satisfaction of completing a project." Bulma jested hopefully making Gohan smile knowingly.

"I do actually…but…what the hell is that you're making?" Gohan questioned the genius curiously.

"Useless unresponsive pieces of steel and wiring at the moment, but hopefully one day…liquid hope…" Bulma explained cryptically looking wistfully at her seemingly random bits of machinery, "But it's not important right now, anyway, you said you had something for me?" Bulma suddenly questioned, changing the subject of conversation entirely.

"Yeah actually I was wondering if you had any way of making me a sturdy, lasting outfit for crime fighting?" at the quizzical expression stretched her features Gohan felt the need to elaborate. "My dogi's keep getting ruined and they take forever to put on. I'm hoping you have something or other to cover that for me. Preferably a sturdy suit fit for combat but nothing too intimidating. I'm supposed to be a hero after all."

Bulma took a long second to think as she wracked her brain for a solution to the boy's dillema. After a while she seemed to have an idea, "Nothing like that exists right now, but I think I have an idea!" the genius exclaimed excitedly before bustling about the lab grabbing various plans and instruments, she stopped for a second to address the confused teens, "Can you wait a few hours?" She asked, almost sounding impatient herself.

"Yeah of course, take your time, we'll just go hang out with our friends for a while." Gohan assured with a grin.

With a gesture to Videl to follow him they made their way out the room and headed to their friends. Videl meanwhile still plotting her plan of action in her mind, making sure whatever she came up with wouldn't backfire on her.

They arrived back at the group and were mobbed for the second time that day. Friends and classmates asking questions and the like. "Where did you two disappear off to!?"

"Videl I saw that thing on the news!"

"Is Saiyaman dangerous?Can you beat him!?"

"Hey, hey! Everybody chill out, the world isn't ending, the government and Saiyaman are just having a little uhhh…" Videl suddenly lost her way and began reaching for the right way to say this.

"Conflict in interests." Gohan finished for her confidently.

Videl snapped her fingers in enthusiastic affirmation, "Exactly! A conflict of interests!"

"Yeah, Saiyaman wants to save lives and the government wants him under their thumb." Gohan added, continuing his train of thought, making the students murmur and Videl glare at him.

"Hey! We don't know that yet! I just think a lot of people are afraid of him and what yo- uhhh, he might do, and they want him accountable for any inconveniences he may have caused." Videl argued in defense of their government.

"Inconveniences!? This guy is hardly better than a terrorist! He leaves death and destruction everywhere he goes!" Sharpener interjected receiving a few nods and murmurs of agreement.

"Yeah! He thinks he's above the law or something! He must consider himself a god or something to us because no normal person puts themselves so high above the law." Someone else passionately added.

"This asshole destroys lives and kills living people! At least terrorists stand for something! All this guy does is fuck around and play hero, saving us weaklings every so often from his high horse, like he's any better! The freak…"

Gohan made no move to argue with his friends, they couldn't know that he was Saiyaman, they were just naïve to his situation and the way the world was. Even still rage and betrayal bubbled deep within him. His eyes narrowed and darkened, cast to the ground at his feet. His mouth pressed into a thin line and his fists clenched.

Videl saw this and immediately felt a little guilty about accidentally causing a chain reaction from her classmates. The pain in his face was almost palpable.

Suddenly a high, bubbly personality made her presence and opinion known, "I don't want to argue with anyone, especially not my friends, but I really don't think you guys are being very fair to Saiyaman…" someone spoke up.

In delighted surprise, Gohan's eyes shot up and saw Erasa standing amidst the group, looking almost shy for the first time ever.

"Whaddya mean 'Rase?" Sharpener questioned.

"I don't know if you guys saw it, but I seem to remember a massacre much earlier today." Erasa quietly reminded, "It was horrific and I balled my eyes out, but when that little girl woke up amidst it all my heart shattered into thousands of pieces…" she trailed off quietly.

Everyone kept listening and urged her to continue, Erasa was never this quiet and shy after all and they wanted to hear it all.

"Saiyaman may not have been there to stop the initial massacre but who was? Certainly not the government, not the police" the Blonde pointed out, "But Saiyaman was there to see the girl, and the hurt and the rage he experienced seeing it was something I have seen many times before, only more intense. He cares about us, this isn't a game to him. He's just trying to do his best to help people as well as he can, and I truly believe that…"

The group of teenagers went quiet and Erasa looked up to see the bewildered faces and slacked jaws of her classmates. "I…never considered that. The mayor made him out so awful and…" Sharpener couldn't word a proper response to her rebuttal.

Videl smiled, happy that her best friend had unknowingly fixed her mistake. With a smile on her face she turned to face her friend and see his reaction only to see something she didn't expect.

Gohan was smiling brightly at Erasa with admiration sparkling in his eyes, she hadn't seen him grin like that before, and the fact that it was directed at someone other than her sparked a raging fire of jealousy in her stomach instantly.

She pushed the feeling down, she was just over thinking it she told herself. It would not be the last time she thought this that evening. For the next few hours the group played various group activities and chatted amongst themselves.

They had played pool, in which Gohan reigned supreme, being uncannily accurate with his shots. On multiple occasions he had taken a seemingly impossible shot and made it work by perfectly ricocheting the cue ball off other pool balls or walls to get around his opponents opponent's object balls, sinking his intended target.

They had watched a movie, they had eventually, after a lot of arguing between the group about whether or not it should be a romantic comedy or a dramatic action movie, they had eventually turned to the quiet and preference-less Gohan. Up till now he had remained completely neutral and merely stood and watched the sides argue with mild-amusement, hands shoved into his pockets in a bored manner.

When asked what he thought they should do as an impartial judge, he decided a compromise was their best option and suggested a kung fu movie with a romance plot. They had agreed, (not realising that he had covertly pushed them closer to his kind of movie, an over the top kung fu movie with comedy so he could watch his life-story from a lighter perspective and laugh about it, preferably starring Jackie Chan or Jet Li) and ended up settling on a movie they were all willing to watch.

After the movie they played Volleyball, the teams consisting of Videl, Sharpener, Pencile, and Casey versus Gohan, Erasa, Papere, and Sarula.

Gohan's team won by a landslide, though the Saiyan did it in a way that no-one would pick up on his gigantic advantage. He himself had scored a point only once, just so as not to draw attention himself. But he made sure, by pre-empting his opponent's movements, that he was conveniently right where the ball was going to be when his team failed to stop it. His teammates scored all the points, Gohan just made sure that the other team rarely scored at all. Though he did purposely dive and barely miss several times just to keep it fun for both sides.

It seemed like a fun couple of hours but Videl saw each event differently to say the least. More specifically each activity was seen increasingly bitterly by the Raven-haired crime fighter. In the games of pool they played everyone mostly had their attention on the game and didn't talk amongst themselves all that much in Videl's humble opinion. Yet when Gohan wasn't playing it seemed like every time she looked up he was paying more attention to their mutual blonde friend than he was to how she was doing.

Then when it came to the movie, rather than siding with her immediately like she expected since he had no personal preference between the two, he instead compromised, taking Erasa's preference into account along with hers. Then he ended up next to her on the couch and talked to Erasa throughout the movie more than he talked to her!

By the time they got to the volleyball game she was boiling with jealous rage. Erasa and Videl had been team captains. When the rest were told to line up in their desired teams there was a rush and her team was quickly full. She looked at Gohan questioningly who's simple response was 'guess I'm on Erasa's team'. Like who the hell did that jerk think he was fooling! She knew he easily could have been first in line for her team with his Super Human speed. But he CHOSE Erasa over her! Originally she had planned to take it somewhat easy on the team of girls as none of them were particularly athletic. But in fury she desperately tried to thrash them so she could rub it in Gohan's face that he should have been on her team, but not only did he stop most of her shots but not the shots of her teammates, but he ALSO led his team to a swift victory. Videl had just about blown a fuse when she saw them doing a victory dance together on their side, laughing and smiling.

She moved to stomp on over to him and…well she didn't know what she planned to do yet but it would set them straight that's for sure! As she got in ear shot though she heard Gohan talking very seriously to her, "Thanks for being on my side of the argument before by the way Erasa, you said what I was too afraid to say."

"Oh, it's nothing Gohan, though to be honest I saw it more as team Saiyaman." She responded, her usual bubbly self.

"Yeah, I know…" he said after a moment of silence, "but thanks anyway."

Videl no longer felt unyielding rage, instead her heart felt guilty and her jealousy was cold instead of hot because she felt she had brought it on herself. If she had sided with Gohan rather than letting her personal opinion of the government get in the way maybe it would have been Videl sharing a victory dance with her super-powered friend. Or Videl sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with the flame-haired superhero. She had hurt his feelings and presented an opportunity for Erasa to swoop in and gain his respect and admiration. She had brought this on herself.

Vegeta's words rang in her mind from before. Why create a whole separate location to escort Gohan from, it didn't make sense. She wanted to have faith in her government but there was a glaringly obvious black-and-white situation here. She KNEW Gohan's motives were pure, but she didn't know for sure that the government shared his lack of ulterior motive. The obvious choice should have been Gohan but her unwavering and naïve blind trust in her government had given her pause in what should have been a simple decision. The girl cursed internally at her mistake, she had pushed her friend away due to this behaviour and now he was showing an interest in someone else.

Just then a robot zoomed into the area, "Message for Son Gohan!" It called out in its electronic robo-voice.

"I'm Son Gohan." The Saiyan affirmed stepping forward from his conversation with the Blonde girl.

"Your presence has been requested by Miss Briefs, please follow me now." The machine instructed before rotating and humming away as it's programming dictated, it's repulser-lift thrusters working to keep it off the ground.

Gohan began walking after it and Videl saw a chance to follow him and have some time alone with him to talk, so she followed after him. She fell in stride with him, albeit having to take two steps for every one of Gohan's. The boy looked at her and nodded, acknowledging her presence before starting conversation with her, "I wonder how my new suit will look. I hope it's viable for combat." He wondered aloud.

"I'm sure Bulma took that into account, she's a genius after all, give her some credit…" she assured, "it's the aesthetic value I'd be most worried about if I were you. I imagine her idea of a cool Superhero suit is skin tight spandex, underwear and a Red cape." Videl said teasingly to her friend who chuckled along with her, shuddering at the thought. Little did she know how close to the truth she actually was.

The pair entered her lab and Bulma spun around in a whirl at the sound of the door opening, jumping on the spot like a kid on Christmas. "You're here! What took you so long?" she demanded urgently. Gohan's even expression remained as per usual and he opened his mouth to make a sarcastic comment but was cut off immediately, "Never mind that! Your suit is finally ready! Thank you so much for trusting me with this, it's the most fun I've had on a project in months."

Gohan was glad he hadn't bothered her at all with his request. With a swipe of her arm that genius cleared the bench of all the bits-and-bobs around, casting them straight onto the floor. Gohan's mind raced in anticipation. What would it look like? Would it satisfy his criteria? Would it look heroic? Enough at least to make the public trust him more?

He expected her to whirl around and cast an outfit of some kind on the bench but instead she placed a watch in the center. Gohan stared at it in silence, as did Videl.

"Now I know what you're thinking, 'this is just a watch, not a whole outfit, where's the rest?' but don't worry just trust me" she explained, Gohan remained skeptical for a moment before pushing those thoughts away and focusing on his godmother. "Gohan, put the watch on, and once it's on and firmly secure, press that Red button on the side there." Bulma instructed with excitement evident in her tone and posture.

Gohan nodded and picked up the time piece, wrapping it around his left wrist and securing the latch/clip at his wrist. He lightly tugged on it just to make sure it was securely held before bringing his left arm up closer to his face. He brought his right hand to the face and hovered his finger over the Red button on the side.

Gohan looked up at Bulma in silent question and she gave him a grin and a thumbs up. Videl tensed as the suspense grew to ridiculous proportions before Gohan's finger made its way to the button. As he clicked it in he felt a strange sensation and a bright light enveloped him.

The light faded away and revealed to all in the room Saiyaman's new suit. A Black Saiyan-style spandex full body suit stretched over his form. His hands and feet were covered by the iconic White gloves and boots worn by Saiyans and the rest of Frieza's empire. A lime Green Tunic covered his body from just above his knees up to his shoulders. At said shoulders 2 Gold pins held a Ferrari Red cape. The look was finished by the Orange and Black visored-helmet on his head, tinting his vision of the room slightly and muffling his hearing just enough for the teen to notice.

Videl stared in awkward silence at the strange, colour-clashing of the Red cape, Orange Helmet and Green Tunic.

Gohan saw himself in a mirror and cringed slightly at his appearance, "Ugh Bulma…I'm very appreciative of what you've worked so hard on, but…" he trailed off , not wanting to hurt her feelings.

"The suit looks kinda dorky and unfashionable Bulma…" Videl finished for her friend, always the blunt one.

"Well yeah it's a little tacky but Gohan wanted to go with a sort of public friendly hero suit so I figured this was a good compromise" Bulma began explaining various thought processes in its design. "See first I had to find a suit design that would be quick and easy to put on. I struggled a lot to think of anything that I could use that would be sturdy AND easy to put on."

The woman walked over to Gohan and indicated the watch, "Then I had the idea that I could use a similar concept to Dynocap technology to compress and store the matter of the costume in the exact parameters of your body. So when you pressed that button it would capsulate your own outfit and de-capsulate the suit onto you."

Gohan quirked an eyebrow at that revelation, "But wouldn't that be extremely dangerous for me? If I'm not in a position the suit is being opened on, won't it splice through me or something?" Gohan asked, making Videl's jaw drop at the implications that held.

"Aha! There's that science brain of yours!" She complimented before continuing, "Well as a matter of fact I found a way around that. It's designed as a watch rather than a Capsule for a reason." She informed with a tone that said he shouldn't be surprised at what she was saying.

"It's generating a constant 3D sonar tracking system over your body, and adjusting the position of the suit to match with 100% accuracy. Very similar in notion to motion Capture technology but with far more accurate and powerful technology courtesy of yours truly."

Gohan stared for the umpteenth time but this time his shock was mixed with awe and it was directed strictly at Bulma herself, "That's…genius! And on top of that you also designed and developed hardware and software that can actually do it!" Gohan exclaimed, his eyes wide in genuine awe.

"Don't act too surprised, you might offend me." Bulma joked with the Saiyan teen.

"Besides, it really wasn't that hard. Now deciding what it would look like was the real challenge. Especially now that I had left myself with minimum limitations on what your suit could be made of."

"I settled on a middle ground between Saiyan armor and Earthling super hero. The body suit is spandex-like, just as all Saiyan Fatigues are." Bulma started, gesturing to it. "Very durable and it doesn't hinder your movements. The boots and gloves too are standard Saiyan armor."

Bulma stepped back so as to take in the full image of the suit. "I didn't want to give you Saiyan armor because it seems too formal and military to gain public favour, especially with the Black bodysuit. So I went for a more familiar, and human design that people could learn to like. A bright green went really well with the Black so I just picked a Black belt to match. It stands out nicely with the Gold orb in the buckle in my humble opinion."

Gohan's smile went a little wry now, "And the helmet and cape?" The teen questioned.

Bulma grinned a little and shrugged, "I just thought a Superhero should have a cape and I figured the helmet would do well to disguise your identity."

"Disguising my face is a very good idea for the tournament coming up, so no one I know gets a close-up of my face and figures me out. However…." Gohan pulled his face into a snarl, and with a shout quickly ascended to Super Saiyan. In doing so the helmet fell away as if disintegrated.

Bulma stared on with shock evident on her face, as did Videl. "Yep, I was afraid of that. Anything that covers the top of my head stands no chance of surviving the jump to Super Saiyan. Is there anything else you can give me for hiding my face?" he asked hopefully.

Bulma looked a little lost in thought, "Uh yeah sure thing, it might take me a while to make before I can implement it into the watch though. Will the suit do you for now?" she asked as she moved over to a computer and started typing.

"Uh, 1 moment…" Gohan gripped the red cape from his shoulders and tore it away completely, tossing aside the bright red garment, "Yeah it'll definitely do me for now, thanks Bulma, you've really helped me out here." He thanked gratefully.

"No problem kid, you could have come to me a lot earlier for this you know." Bulma informed the boy who merely responded with a cold, detached expression and something about not having a need for it until now.

He pressed the button to return to his regular clothes and powered down to his regular state. Then he and Videl left the office and began the trek back to the courtyard where there friends still were. Gohan looked down at the watch, "It's definitely way too late for me to go now" he commented with an exasperated sigh, "Tomorrow it is then." He affirmed out loud.

Just then Gohan's ears twitched and he looked up, "We've got company." He stated. Sure enough they rounded the corner and came face-to-face with the Saiyan Prince who looked surprised to see them. Gohan glared for a second before greeting him, "Vegeta! We need to stop meeting like this, what will people say?" he joked, taunting the older warrior who merely composed his shock and scoffed at the boy.

"They'll say I'm guilty when I'm in court for executing my unfunny jester you spineless son of a clown, now beat it brat." Vegeta spat scathingly.

"If I didn't know any better I'd say you were in a hurry to get somewhere…" he insinuated seemingly innocent of any scheme. Vegeta stiffened for a fraction of a second before continuing past the son of Goku, "So it's a good thing I know you better huh?" he added, laying on the naivety.

At that the Saiyan Prince moved on down the hallway Gohan and Videl had just emerged from. Gohan watched him leave from the corner of his eye, "Do you have to torment the one person you know who can seriously hurt you so badly?" Videl asked rhetorically, frowning at him with her hands on her hips.

Gohan shook his head at the Raven-haired girl beside him. "It had a purpose, didn't you see how surprised to see us he was?" Gohan asked with a hushed tone.

"Uuuuuhhhh, duh! We just came around the corner and he wasn't expecting to walk into us." Videl argued.

"You're forgetting Vegeta and I share the same abilities Videl, he SHOULD have known we were near, I noticed him before we saw him. He would have had to be concentrating really hard to just not notice us whatsoever." Gohan pointed out, making Videl 'Oh' silently at him.

"So what do you think is up with him then? What could be motivating him to think about anything other than fighting you or training?" Videl questioned. She hadn't known Vegeta all that long but he seemed like a pretty one-track-minded guy.

Gohan merely continued walking, "I'm not sure..." he replied thoughtfully.

They continued on their way and Gohan bid Videl goodbye once he got to the hallway that lead to his bedroom. Videl said her goodbyes with a smile on her face as Gohan disappeared around the corner.

However as soon as he was out of sight Videl's smile became a determined scowl, it was time to execute her plan. The plan she had subtly titled 'Operation ward off fangirls by sabotaging her own bed and staying in Gohan's room but purely platonically'.

She power walked down the various hallways heading back to where her classmates were. She checked her own watch noting that it was now nearing 10pm. She'd have to be quick if she wanted to execute her plan efficiently.

The plan was to get to her room and get ready to sleep as per normal, then after an hour had passed she'd "accidentally" set her bed alight using some Ki, all without causing suspicion from Erasa. Then she'd put it out safely, inform one of the robots of the incident and that she'd organised another sleeping space with a friend.

She'd then make it to Gohan's room, ideally before any of the girls had any ideas. She'd softly knock on his door so as to not awaken him too violently, at his answer she'd put on her friendliest expression and tell him that she had a bad dream about the time she thought Gohan died in the huge underground explosion and subconsciously released some of her energy and set the bed on fire and decided to stay with him as he had the most space and because her bad dream made her a little bit concerned and she wanted to check on him.

That should hopefully appeal to his logical mindset and also tug on his heartstrings a bit to soften him up, at which point she'd ask nicely if she could take up the couch. Then stumble across the capsule with the spare bed she had taken from her emergency survival kit and pretend she had forgotten it was there.

The plan was flawless! She couldn't possibly- suddenly she realised that a girl was already making her way to Gohan's room. With no time to spare Videl bolted to his room, throwing thoughts of stealth out the window as she shoved the girl aside and made her way through the hallways at top speed. She'd have to improvise this first part of the plan...

 _A.N I'm real sorry y'all I'm the worst but I've been working really closely with the guy drawing the manga to help him make sure it's accurate in design and portrayal. Just hang in there okay? I'll put the link to his DA page in my bio so you can find him and look at the concept art and character designs he's put up so far. Till next time._


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